Sleeping Beauty and Mixed Emotions
by sonamyfanfiction
Summary: Cream is kidnapped and harmed by Dr. Eggman, sending her into a sleep-like trance. When the gang have to traipse the planet to find Tikal and save their young friend, they are forced to stay with people they find along the way. How will they handle it? Will sparks fly? Will their sanity last? Come back to us, Cream!
1. Goodnight

**Hello fellow writers!  
>Welcome to my latest piece, 'Sleeping Beauty and Mixed Emotions'. I won't lie to you, I always have my stories set out and planned before I start writing, but this story keep changing as I went on. I'm not sure how much I like it so I need your help on what you think of it! Before I knew it, I had a bunch of OCs in there which is something I didn't think I'd do! This is a little bit more of a mature piece, kind of clichéd, green monsters on our girl's backs, humour, romance and all that jazz. Hope you enjoy! Desperate for reviews on this one so I know if it was any good!<br>Peace out! x x**

As the days go by on the planet of Mobius, the Sonic Team just can't seem to catch a break from Eggman and his heinous plans. Not that Sonic minds, he craves a bit of excitement. On this particular sunny Saturday, the team find themselves in a clearing after Cream went missing that morning. Tails tracked her wrist communicator and they come to find her locked away in a huge glass cabinet being held up by another one of Eggman's hideous contraptions.

'So, what are the demands this time, Egghead?' Sonic smirked.

'Don't tick him off, Sonic! He's got Cream in there!' Cosmo yelled out to him from the X-Tornado.

'You should listen to your little, green friend over there Sonic. If you give me those Chaos emeralds then little Creamy Cream here goes unharmed.' Eggman grinned evilly as he stroked his moustache.

Tails and Cosmo hovered the X-Tornado above the large, metallic and watched over Cream. She was so scared and was forcing herself to hold back the tears. Rouge flew above the other side and tried to get as close to Cream's cell as possible without being seen. Amy, Shadow and Knuckles all stood by Sonic and looked up to the grossly overweight doctor who hovered about in his small contraption.

'You're bluffing!' Knuckles shouted.

'You wouldn't hurt Cream!' Amy added.

'Be quiet. While you make a good point, don't risk it.' Shadow huffed.

'Alright, alright. Humour me, Eggman. What does your latest piece of junk do?' Sonic chuckled and folded his arms.

'Watch your tongue, pest! For your information, this machine that you see before you is really something special. At the bush of a button, I can turn Cream here from a bright and bouncy youngster into a very, very sleepy little rabbit.' Eggman smirked evilly.

'Come again?' Amy said as she arched an eyebrow.

'Alright, let's put it this way. Sleeping Beauty won't be able to be woken up by 'true loves kiss',' Eggman said causing everyone to roll their eyes, 'she will just, stay asleep forever.' Eggman shrugged.

'WHAT?!' Cream screeched.

'Don't worry, Cream! We'll get you out!' Tails exclaimed from the ship.

'Wait, everyone stop!' Sonic said before running forward and holding his arms in the air.

'Yes, Sonic?' Eggman said with a large, fake smile.

'I'll do it.' Sonic said with a defeated sigh.

'Are you kidding, Sonic?! He's bluffing and you know it!' Knuckles screeched.

'Don't do it Mr. Sonic! You've worked too hard!' Cream yelled through the bulletproof glass.

'I'm not risking it!' Sonic yelled over everyone.

Sonic looked to the ground and shook his head before summoning all seven chaos emeralds. They circled him a few times before he sent them over to a small box that the machine was holding with one of its large claws. Everyone watched on in fear and suspense as the box closed and disappeared. Eggman chuckled a little before lowering Cream's cell a little.

'Now, let her go.' Sonic said, trying to stop himself from getting very angry.

'A deal is a deal.' Eggman said as he pushed a button on his dash board, still keeping his eyes glued to Sonic.

A light began to glow in Cream's cell. Cream looked around frantically in fear before letting out a deathly scream. Everyone's eyes widened before they ran up and tried to destroy the glass cell, but it was no use. Even Eggman watched on in fear.

'What did you do?! You were supposed to let her go!' Rouge screamed angrily.

'I did! I must have pressed the wrong button!' Eggman stammered frantically as he slammed down on his dashboard trying to fix it.

'Well, fix it!' Shadow shot at him.

'I can't!' Eggman panicked.

Sonic tried everything to break the glass until finally the light disappeared and Cream lay on the ground, peacefully, of the cell. The door slowly opened, allowing Knuckles to jump in and get her out. She was breathing, curled up in a little ball like she does when she sleeps. She even had the slightest hint of a smile as she breathed out.

'She's only sleeping!' Amy exclaimed with glee.

'Forever.' Eggman said, causing the gang to look up at him.

Shadow released the two rings around his wrist before powering up and kicking Eggman into the sky. The machine seemed to freeze, now that it's control panel was far away. Tails swooped down so he was close enough to see it's control box before destroying it. It set ablaze before bursting into small pieces of debris.

As half the team jumped into and onto the X-Tornado, Sonic and Shadow sped off and headed toward home allowing the others to follow. Knuckles held onto Cream, still watching her as if she was going to wake up. It had just dawned on night by the time they landed safely outside Sonic and Tails' home. The masculine, macho echidna took Cream up to Sonic's hardly used roomed and lay her down in his bed.

'Do you think she'll be ok?' Tails asked as he, Knuckles and Sonic watched over her.

'I'm sure of it. Eggman isn't that smart, there's no way he has really put her to sleep forever.' Knuckles said as he tried to reassure himself more than the others.

'He's right, we'll work it out. For now, we just have to leave her be.' Sonic said with a smile and a thumbs up.

They soon walked out of the room and back down to the living room where the other girls were sipping on fresh tea and Shadow was leaning against the door frame that lead out to the balcony. Amy, Rouge and Cosmo's eyes lit up like New Year's Eve when the boys walked in, they were almost certain they were going to get good news.

'Is she awake, Sonic?' Amy said with a cheery smile.

'No, Amy. We're going to have to find some sort of cure.' Tails said before Sonic could answer, even though he probably wouldn't have answered anyway.

'Oh, ok.' Amy sighed before taking another sip of tea.

'Don't be down, guys. I'm sure that Tails and the others will come up with a way to wake her up, no doubt.' Cosmo said with a reassuring smile, causing Tails to blush a little.

'That's the right attitude! For all we know, Eggman could be full of it and Cream will awake and bouncing on our beds in the morning.' Sonic said with a thumbs up.

'We can't rely on that though.' Shadow said, still staring out at the horizon.

'Are you being realistic or pessimistic?' Knuckles smirked after everyone looked in the ebony hedgehog's direction.

'Realistic, you jerk. We don't have time to waste. Clearly Eggman had no idea what that machine was capable of, so we need to hurry up and work this shit out.' Shadow shrugged.

'As much as I hate to admit it, but the angry _realist_ is right. I don't mean to scare anyone-'

'I'm not scared.' Amy cut her off, trying to be brave, after Rouge aimed that statement at her.

'Well, I'm just saying that there may be something coursing through Cream that's making her sleep. Eventually, it might make her… well, stop.' Rouge sighed.

'Stop sleeping? Well, that's great!' Cosmo exclaimed, slightly confused.

'She means stop _breathing, _Cosmo.' Knuckles said sadly before Cosmo shrunk into herself.

'Ok, ok, come on guys. Let's stop jumping to conclusions!' Tails said, trying to lighten the mood.

'Our little pal is right, gang! Let's just leave it tonight, it's been a long and exhausting day for us all. Let's just have a feed and get some sleep, yeah?' Sonic said with his usual, cocky attitude.


	2. This Is Where We Start

Everyone agreed with their hero before Amy leapt up and offered to make a meal with Cosmo. The mood lightened immediately when the thought of Amy's roast dinner came into everyone's mind. Even Sonic was excited, as long as chilli was involved in the meal, which took negotiation. Cosmo couldn't help but take up a small plate to where Cream was sleeping and sit it on the bedside table. Maybe the powerful smell would wake her up? After a lovely meal, Cosmo decided she wanted to go up and sit with the small rabbit alone, she was awfully worried. This was the first time that she had ever been harmed, especially since it was a rarity she was even a target.

'Cosmo seems to be taking this pretty hard.' Knuckles said as he slouched on the lounge.

'You're not wrong, but she is still being very optimistic about it.' Tails agreed.

'It's not like Cosmo to give up, especially give up hope.' Amy added with a smile.

A minute of silence fell over the gang, so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Amy had rung Vanilla who was away on some sort of business trip, when she found out she was in hysterics and insisted she come home right away. It took some convincing but Amy reassured her she was perfectly fine with her and the others. Vanilla demanded contact and status on her every day and to send her love to everyone, she was motherly like that.

Knuckles stood up and began to walk over the kitchen to put his cup away. He stopped in the middle of the room and just stood there for a few seconds before the glass cup in his hand dropped and shattered into tiny pieces on the floor. Everyone jumped before looking in his direction, he was just staring at nothing.

'Knuckles? Are you ok?' Sonic asked curiously.

'Knuckie? Sweetie? You there?' Rouge said, still flirty, as she waved her hand across his face.

-  
><em>'Cream needs help, Knuckles. Bring her too me!' A female voice rang in his head.<em>

_'Who are you?! What do you want?!' Knuckles shot back, in his imagination._

_The image became clearer. He was on Angel Island, staring up at the Master Emerald before a girl appeared and began walking down the grand stairs. She was a red echidna, like him, only her hair was wrapped in bandages and she fashioned an older looking dress. Sort of, Egyptian?_

_'You know me, Knuckles. You've met me before.' She said to him._

_'I have! You're right! But what is your name? And how can you help our friend?'_

_'Bring your friend to me and I can help her.' She said before bowing her head and fading away into nothing._

_'Wait! Where are you going?! What's your name? Where do we go?! Hello? Hello? Hello?  
><em>-

'Hello? Hello? Knux?' Sonic repeated as he waved his hands frantically across Knuckles' face.

'Huh?' He replied hazily as the blue hedgehog helped him to his feet.

'What the hell happened to you? Oh, don't move because you're surrounded by broken glass.' Rouge said as she steadied him.

'I'm onto it.' Tails said as he started sweeping up the shattered glass with a dustpan and brush.

'Are you ok, Knuckles? Where did you go?' Amy asked sweetly.

'Yeah, uh, I'm fine. I just uh- SONIC! The girl was there!' Knuckles cut himself off and shouted.

'Huh?' Sonic said as he narrowed his eyebrows into a confused expression.

'The girl! You know the girl!' Knuckles exclaimed again.

The room went silent as everyone stared at the red echidna like a mental patient. He looked around at his friends waiting for one of them to understand what he was talking about, but of course, nothing. Sonic arched and eyebrow and gave him a small smile before cautiously placing a hand on his shoulder.

'How hard did you hit your head, Knucklehead?' Sonic smirked, causing the others to giggle.

'This isn't funny!' Knuckles shouted.

'Agreed… WHO'S THIS GIRL YOU'RE DREAMING ABOUT?' Rouge asked in a very angry tone, causing Knuckles to blush.

'Oh, Rouge!' Knuckles brushed her off before continuing, 'No, the girl. The red echidna that kept sending us visions, Sonic!'

'Oh! Now see, if you'd said that first it would have been so much easier.' Sonic chuckled and Knuckles simply rolled his eyes.

'Well, what did she say?' Cosmo asked.

'You'll all think I'm mad.' Knuckles admitted.

'We were looking at 'mad' in the rear view mirror when your only explanation was screaming 'Girl! Girl!'.' Shadow smirked.

'He's right, so what happened?' Tails asked.

'She told me we have to bring Cream to her, because she can help her?' Knuckles said confused.

'What's she going to do?' Amy asked.

'Well, I didn't really have a great chance to talk.' Knuckles replied sarcastically.

'We don't even know this girl's name, let alone her location or anything else? How does she expect us to bring Cream to her?' Tails asked.

'More importantly, why should we trust her?' Rouge questioned suspiciously.

'She's helped us before.' Sonic said to reassure her, yet her suspicions didn't subside.

'Still seems fishy to me.' Rouge shrugged.

'Well, it's all we've got for now. I think we all need a good night's rest!' Amy said with a smile.

'Couldn't agree more, Ames! I'm beat!' Sonic said with the same smile that made the pink hedgehog's heart melt. She was hiding it well tonight, although on the inside butterflies were exploding like fireworks.

'How about you girls stay up in Sonic's room with Cream, just in case.' Tails suggested.

'You don't mind do you, Sonic?' Cosmo asked politely.

'Nah, I never use that bed anyway! Go for it.'

'Great! Looks like the guys are bunking down here.' Tails said before letting out a small yawn.

'And Rouge, the _nocturnal bat, _will go for a night fly. I'll be back soon though, ciao babes.' Rouge winked before flying out the balcony door and into the sky.


	3. Midnight Madness!

Rouge returned around midnight and flew onto the balcony leading into Sonic's bedroom. Cosmo and obviously Cream were fast asleep, but Amy still has her eyes wide open as she leaned on the railing on the balcony, looking up at the moon.

'Shouldn't be asleep, Hun?' Rouge asked as she dusted herself off.

'Probably. I'm tired as all hell but I just can't sleep, I'm just worried and… so many other things.' Amy sighed before rubbing her eyes.

'There's no need to stress, you know as well as I do that we're going wake Cream up. She'll be safe and sound by the time the week's out.' Rouge said with her usual, coy smile.

'I guess you're right.' Amy shrugged.

'Something else on your mind?'

'I don't know.'

'How do you not know?'

'Well, there is. But I don't know if it's important, or if it's even anything worth talking about. I'm just being silly. Yeah, that's it.' Amy nodded to reassure herself before turning around to walk back inside.

'Spill the beans.' Rouge said firmly as she grabbed Amy's arm.

'Oh, it's silly. It's just-'

'Sonic?' Rouge cut in.

'How did you know?'

'Who doesn't know?' Rouge rolled her eyes.

'What does that mean?!' Amy snapped.

'We all know how you feel about Big Blue. Is he being an arrogant prick or something?' Rouge asked.

'To me? Always. I love him but I just wish he'd talk to me. Like tonight when he smiled at me and told me that going to bed was a great idea, that was something small and insignificant but it felt amazing just to be acknowledged by him. I just wish… oh, I don't know.' Amy trailed off.

'I think I know what you're saying, kiddo. Being a girl really sucks sometimes, and I do have a bit of advice for you?' Rouge said with a smile.

'Oh, yeah?'

'Boys suck.'

The two girls burst into hysterics before covering their mouths, trying not to wake anyone up. Amy agreed with the ivory bat before they decided to come with a few more funny 'pieces of advice'. After their laughter subsided, they walked back into the room before making themselves comfortable and ready for bed. They quickly grew tired and drifted off to sleep.

In the early hours of the morning, everyone was sound asleep. Except for Sonic, who was tossing and turning on the roof. He almost woke up, a few times, but then quickly went back to sleep before anyone else woke up. He began talking in his sleep… who was he talking to?

-  
><em>'Blue Hero, we meet again.' The female voice rang in his ears.<em>

_'What now?' He replied stubbornly as he looked around for a clear view._

_'Do you remember me?'_

_'Well, it's hard to tell right now. I can't see you!'_

_The female voice let out a slight giggle before the mist and the cloud cleared, revealing the same red echidna that Knuckles had seen earlier that evening. Sonic's eyes widened when he saw her saunter towards him. She bowed her head and smiled slightly._

_'It's you, the girl that keeps sending us visions.' Sonic said, stunned._

_'Yes, I have helped you before.'_

_'Yeah, long time no see. So, who are you?' Sonic smiled a little._

_'I am Tikal, daughter of Chief Pachacamac. Bring your friend Cream to me, I can help her.'_

_'How? Where are you?' Sonic asked frantically as she began to fade away._

_'On the other side of Mobius. The last place you'd want or think to visit.' She smiled as she completely disappeared._

_'Where the hell is that?' Sonic said to himself.  
><em>-

Sonic opened his eyes and quickly shot up to a sitting position. He looked around and tried to recap everything that had just happened. She had finally revealed her name and who she was, although she technically had told him where to go. The other side of Mobius? The last place they would want or think to go? That could be anywhere!

'Tails! Tails, wake up!' Sonic whispered as he shook his brother.

'Aww, you're so cute.' Tails murmured in his sleep.

'What the? Tails! Wake up!'

'You mean more to me that all my tools.'

'Tails!'

'You're the prettiest girl I've ever seen.'

'TAILS!' Sonic exclaimed again as he gently slapped his brother across the face.

'What?! Huh! Sonic? What are you doing?' Tails whispered angrily.

'Ok for starters, I have important news and two, you were dreaming about _the prettiest girl you've ever seen.'_ Sonic mocked as he bat his eyes and raised his hands to his face causing Tails to go redder than their hotheaded echidna friend.

'Uh, um… So, what's the news?' Tails stuttered nervously, hoping to change the subject.

'The girl! She came to me in my sleep!' Sonic exclaimed, still trying not to wake up Knuckles and Shadow.

'The red echidna? Shouldn't you be telling Knuckles this? In the morning, mind you.' Tails murmured as he pulled the blanket over his head only to have it ripped off again by his blue brother.

'Probably but I'll tell him in the morning. I need to tell you now.'

'Why?!'

'You know this planet back to front, and Tikal said that we have to cross to the other side to-'

'Tikal?' Tails cut him off.

'The red echidna. She said we have to go to the last place we would want to go or think to go. So, where is that?' Sonic asked.

'I don't know? Maybe the ancient tombs?' Tails muttered face down into his pillow.

'You mean the ones where all those old royal people are?' Sonic said as he shuddered.

'You could be a little more delicate towards the deceased but yes.'

'Makes sense, the chick is supposed to be ancient but reincarnated or something?'

'Well, it's worth a try? We'll set out tomorrow now go back to sleep!' Tails said as he hit Sonic with his pillow.

Sonic rolled his eyes before walking back out to the balcony and leaping up to the roof. At least they had a start, but was it going to work? Sonic rest his head on his hands and looked up at the moon and stars which glistened in the sky, they sure were beautiful.  
>Amy must be getting mighty worried about Cream… wait, why was he thinking about Amy?<br>He shook this from his head and rolled over before forcing himself to go back to sleep.


	4. Finding Her Cure

When morning rolled around, Tails got his revenge by splashing cold water over Sonic at 8am. He surely wasn't happy, but it he saw the funny side of it once he got himself to the kitchen. Once everyone else had made their way into the kitchen and made a great breakfast, Sonic and Tails explained what happened when Sonic woke Tails up.

'So her name is Tikal?' Amy asked.

'And she's actually ancient?' Rouge added.

'How come she told you this and not me?!' Knuckles snapped.

'Hey, chill out Knux! How should I know?' Sonic said as he put his arms up defensively.

'What else did she say?' Cosmo asked.

'She said that we had to bring Cream to the other side of Mobius. To the last place we would ever think or want to go.' Sonic explained.

'So when this dork, 'Tails gestured to Sonic, 'woke me up and told me this, I suggested we check out the ancient tombs.'

'Makes sense, isn't the girl really old but alive now or something?' Shadow said as he rolled his eyes.

'Something like that.' Tails shrugged.

'Alright, so do we know where these tombs are?' Amy asked.

'I've been there before, but it was quite some time ago now.' Rouge admitted.

'What would you be doing in an abandoned tomb?' Knuckles raised his eyebrow.

'That's for me to know and you to wonder about, Knuckie my sweet.' Rouge winked.

'My guess is snooping around for valuables.' Shadow smirked.

'Oh, piss off, Shadow.' Rouge huffed before folding her arms and sticking her nose in the air.

'Can you get us there?' Tails asked curiously.

'I could get us close, but the tombs themselves are hidden really well. It would surprise me though if once we got close, Tikal would send more messages to Knuckles and Sonic.' Rouge said with a proud smile.

'You're probably right. Well, let's start with that!' Tails said cheerfully.

'Great! Let's load up the X-Tornado!' Sonic said with a thumbs up.

With that, the gang stocked up on supplies while Tails adjusted two of the Tornado seats so Cream could lie down. Sonic went upstairs and picked up the fragile rabbit before carefully walking down to the garage and laying her down in her special seat. Amy covered her in a warm blanket, to which she reacted and curled up in a ball.  
>After all the supplies were stacked up and ready to go, Amy and Cosmo took place in the remaining passenger seats while Tails drove the ship out of the garage. Knuckles and Shadow soon jumped up on the wings of the Tornado, allowing Sonic to trek it on foot and Rouge in the clouds.<p>

'She looks so peaceful.' Amy sighed as she looked over her shoulder at Cream sleeping.

'Don't worry, Amy. I don't doubt Tikal knows what she's doing.' Tails assured her.

'How are you so sure, Tails?' Cosmo asked graciously.

'She's done it before, she'll do it again.'

The X-Tornado suddenly lifted up into the air and over Sonic's head, causing his adrenaline to kick in and race Tails prize ship. Rouge joined in and soared down to Sonic's level, keeping up with him along the dirt path until they came up to the forest. The ivory spy flew into the air and alongside the Tornado where Knuckles lay casually on the wing.

'How you doin' there, Knuckie?' Rouge winked.

'Fine thanks, Rouge.' Knuckles rolled his eyes.

'How are you feeling down there, Sonic?' Amy asked through her wrist communicator.

'We just left, Amy. I'm good for a while.' Sonic chuckled nervously

'So, Tails, what's the plan?' Cosmo asked as she leaned forward in her seat.

'Well, I'm not entirely sure. I suppose we keep going until we all need a break and can find somewhere to stay the night.' Tails said with a genuine smile.

'Great! Do you know anywhere?'

'Well, I don't. But Sonic knows everyone, so I don't doubt we'll run into someone that will recognize him!'

The two began to giggle and joke before turning on a little light music. Amy slouched in her seat and couldn't help but feel a ball of jealousy rise up in her stomach. It was so easy for Cosmo and Tails! They won't admit it, but they like each other a lot. They get on like a house on fire and could talk for days on end. Why couldn't she break that barrier with Sonic?  
>The pink hedgehog leaned over and looked out the windows to find her blue hero running alongside the X-Tornado with a large grin on his face as he felt the crisp breeze brush against his face. Shadow jumped off the wing and challenged her hero to a playful race around the area.<br>She let out an audible sigh as she slouched in her seat. She could certainly go for a rest stop, she was over being cramped up in here already. To think there was so far to go. When afternoon came around, Tails gradually landed the X-Tornado in a small clearing, Amy held in how grateful she was just to stand up. Mainly just to be closer to Sonic…

'What's happening, Tails? It's only three o'clock?' Shadow asked in confusion.

'Yeah and we've been going for 6 hours straight. I know we need to get there fast but I needed a break.' Tails said hazily as he gradually got himself out of his seat.

'I think we all do. It's good we stopped here though, I think there is a small property not far up.' Rouge recalled.

'I think you're right, I recognize the area. I'll go and check it out!' Sonic said before leaving a trail of dust behind him.

Ok, so maybe Sonic wasn't the best person to rely on to send out looking for that property. He got a little sidetrack from the scenery and went on a little run instead. He came across a tiny but beautiful clearing that was bursting at the seams with dozens of different species of flowers. He got to thinking about how much Cream would love to see this, no doubt she would spend her days here making flowers crowns for everyone and then some.  
>He then came across a rose bush, which he could swear was the biggest one he had ever seen before. The strangest thing about this rose bush was that it had next to every colour of rose all in the same plant. All sorts of reds, pinks, white, yellow, blue and even a few purple ones. He plucked a bright red one from its stem, narrowly missing a large thorn, and brought it up to his muzzle before closing his eyes and smelling it.<p>

'_It smells just like Amy.' He thought to himself with a smile._

His eyes quickly snapped open when he realized that sentence had coursed through his head. How did he know that Amy smelt like beautiful, red roses? Beautiful? Was that his way of calling her beautiful? Wait on, what's happening?  
>He shook his head rapidly before realizing he had been gone for at least an hour. He gripped the rose before running out of the clearing and having another quick look around for the property.<p>

'Yes! At least Knucklehead won't say running around was a total waste of time.' Sonic chuckled to himself as he thrust his fist in the air and walked towards the small cottage home he had laid his eyes on. He walked up to the front door and politely knocked on the door. He heard light footsteps jog towards the door before a young cat answer.

'Hi there!' Sonic greeted the young, yellow female.

'Sonic the Hedgehog?' She asked as she stared at him in amazement.

'That's me?' Sonic answered, confused.

'You probably don't remember me. You saved me once, my name is Vanessa.'

'Hey, yeah! I do remember! You were trapped in a net by a river around here when I was running past. How have you been?' Sonic asked politely.

'Fine, thank you. It's lovely to see you again! Would you come in?'

'I really can't, I have my friends with me a few miles away. You see my friend has been badly hurt by an enemy of ours and we have to cross the planet to find another friend that can help her. We've had to stop for the night and take a break. Long story.' Sonic chuckled as he nervously scratched his quills.

'I see! Well in that case, I can finally repay my debt. Would you please bring your friends to have dinner tonight, and you are all welcome to spend the night in my barn. It's not much but it's warm and there is plenty of hay to lay on.' She smiled at him.

'Wow! Thank you, Vanessa. That's awful kind of you! Here, this is for you.' Sonic said as he bowed a little and handed the bright red rose over to the yellow feline. She would have been not a year younger than him, she was awfully flattered by his gesture and blushed furiously.

'I guess I shall see you… and your friends later tonight?'

'Great! See you then!' Sonic winked at her before speeding off towards the rest of the gang.

Vanessa watched the blue blur speed off into the distance before gazing down at the red rose Sonic had left with her. She looked up to where Sonic had stood seconds ago with a coy and flirtatious smile. If there was anything to know about Vanessa the cat it was that she was a girl who knew what she wanted, and she was determined to get her latest target…


	5. This Should Be Interesting

'Where the hell have you been, Sonic?!' Knuckles snapped.

'Yeah! Did you find the property or not?' Shadow exclaimed.

'I told you I should have gone!' Rouge added.

'Chill out guys! Look, I'll admit, I got a little side track and went for a run-'

'That doesn't surprise me.' Tails cut Sonic off with a giggle.

'Well I came across a pretty cool clearing, lots of nice flowers. Cream would have loved it.' Sonic shrugged.

'Did you pick any flowers, Sonic?' Cosmo asked.

'I picked one, a nice rose. But I gave it to-'

'Ok let's cut the flower crap, did you find the place or not?' Shadow cut Sonic off.

Little did the duo know that Amy was listening intently to the fact that Sonic had said he had given it to someone. Who had he given it to? Was it a girl? Of course it was a girl. But who? Amy's brain was running so fast it was beginning to give her a headache, until Sonic's voice finally brought her back into the conversation.

'I ran into a girl I once met from around these parts, Vanessa.' Sonic smiled.

_A girl!_

'She wants us to come to her place for a meal and she has offered for us to stay inside her barn for the night before we move out again tomorrow. So I gave her the rose to say thank you, she seemed to like it.' Sonic smiled.

_He gave the rose to her!_

'That's awful nice of you, Sonic.' Cosmo praised him.

'Yeah he's a real gentleman now let's get going, shall we?' Rouge rushed them.

The team finally got moving, deciding to walk. Tails drove Cream in the X-Tornado to the property that he tracked in the GPS while the others simply followed Sonic on foot. The boys got to talking and joking as they do while Rouge and Cosmo struck up a conversation whilst Amy simply tagged along beside them.

'Alright, Amy, what's wrong?' Rouge asked mid-sentence.

'Huh?' Amy snapped out of her trance.

'Why so quiet?'

'You look down, Amy?' Cosmo added.

'I'm not?' Amy lied, her arms folded and her nose in the air. Rouge and Cosmo exchanged looks before moving to either side of the pink hedgehog.

'Spill the beans, Hun.'

'Nothing's wrong, Rouge. Drop it.' Amy huffed.

'I love you, Amy, but you know she won't give up until you say something.' Cosmo said nervously.

'She's right!' Rouge giggled proudly before Amy rolled her eyes.

'Who's this Vanessa chick we're going to see anyway? And how does she know Sonic?' Amy asked in an angry tone.

'That's what you're worried about?' Cosmo asked, astonished.

'Honey, he's met the girl once! Which he didn't have a choice because he was saving the poor girl?' Rouge said, surprised and trying to reassure her friend.

'He gave her a rose! I'm the one he should be giving a rose!' Amy exclaimed.

Her last word echoed a little too loudly, causing the boys to turn around and stare at the three girls who stood up straight and tried not to act suspicious. They arched their eyebrows, exchanged looks then turned back around and kept talking. The girls let out a sigh of relief before Rouge punched Amy in the arm.

'Keep it down, Amy!' Rouge snapped.

'Come on, Amy. He was just being nice. It was just a thank you gesture for letting us stay and having dinner with her.' Cosmo said with a reassuring smile.

'Oh, I guess you're right.' Amy shrugged with a smile, simply to get the girls off her back.

Only a minute later, the gang arrived out the front of the small cottage home where they met Tails. He told them that Vanessa had taken Cream inside to stay in the spare bed, she was still sound asleep. The two-tailed kitsune had landed the Tornado on the other side of the barn and was just waiting for them to get there.

'Well, let's get inside!' Sonic exclaimed.

'Agreed. I'm starving!' Knuckles added.

Tails opened the door and led them inside before shouting out to Vanessa to let her know the others were there. They walked into the living room where she stood, looking much different to when Sonic had seen her earlier. Earlier, she looked normal, nothing different to a farm girl. Which wasn't out of the ordinary considering where she lived. However, now she fashion a beautiful white satin dress. It wasn't too dress, just plain and simple with a white cardigan over the top. She also wore a little make up that brought out her beautiful, light blue eyes. Amy could swear she saw Sonic's jaw fall agape a little, making Rouge and Cosmo very nervous.

'Hi there, everyone! Please come in, make yourselves comfortable!' Vanessa said politely as she gestured to the dining table in the next room.

'Thank you, Miss.' Cosmo bowed her head a little.

'Oh please, not so formal. I am Vanessa, you must be Cosmo?' She guessed as she shook the seedrian's hand.

'I am. Uh, how do you know my name?' Cosmo shook her hand nervously.

'Oh! Tails told me. _He's very fond of you!' _Vanessa whispered the last part, causing Cosmo to blush before she sat down.

'You must be… Rouge?' Vanessa asked as she held out her hand.

'I am.' Rouge took her hand and shook it politely.

'How are you? I'm Vanessa.'

'So I hear, I'm well thank you. Nice place you got hear. Nice dress, by the way!' Rouge complimented her before sitting down.

Amy couldn't help but be slightly pissed off at the fact that Rouge and Cosmo, two of her best friends, were being so nice to the girl trying to weasel in on Sonic. Although, I guess it was hard not to be nice to her. She was so lovely, and stunning.

'Excuse me?' Vanessa asked.

'Huh? Oh, hello!' Amy snapped out of her daydream.

'You must be Amy Rose, am I right?' Vanessa shook her hand before pulling her into a hug.

'Uh, yes. I am.' Amy hugged her back, confused at her bold gesture.

'You're a pretty little thing.'

'Thank you.'

'You're a good friend of Sonic's, right?'

'I guess you could say that.'

'Hmph.' Vanessa giggled before walking off to the table and taking her seat.

Amy suddenly became very sure of this feline's intentions. Not just because of the snide laugh, but also because she had taken a seat right next to the blue hedgehog before crossing her legs, allowing her dress to ride up a little.

Vanessa had served up a lovely meal full of fish, vegetables and a side of fruit, she even took up a big bowl of fruit for Cream in case she woke up. Which, of course, everyone thought was so lovely. Amy would have done that herself if the cat hadn't beat her to it, so she just rolled her eyes to herself, why was she being so nice to all of us? It was Sonic she wanted. Even though she needed to stay away!

'So tell me, when did you guys leave?' Vanessa asked as she put a strawberry in her mouth.

'We left around nine o'clock this morning.' Rouge answered.

'Right, so how long did you guys travel for before stopping?'

'About six hours I think our buddy Tails said.' Sonic smiled as he looked to Tails for reassurance, which Tails smiled back.

'Wow! So you guys must be… really, exhausted.' Vanessa said slowly.

As she did so, Sonic felt something slide up and down his shin. He was confused at first and brushed it off, until he worked out what it was… Vanessa's foot. He jumped a little in his seat, starling Cosmo who was sitting next to him. She gave him a funny look but he pretended he didn't see it.

'I'm sure we'll be fine after a good night's rest.' Amy said, aiming a glare in Vanessa's direction.

'Yes, I think you all need a good night's sleep.' Vanessa said with a smile as she rest her head on one hand and the other hand appeared to be on her lap, when really it was on Sonic's.

The sweat was literally forming so fast on Sonic's forehead that he could have been close to having a waterfall drizzle down the sides of his temples. He began running her hands along his thighs, which Cosmo saw. She looked at her blue friend in her peripheral vision as Vanessa conversed with Rouge and Shadow. Sonic looked back and looked back, practically begging for help.

'Oh! Silly me, I dropped my napkin.' Cosmo said thickly.

'Don't worry, Cosmo. I'll get it for you!' Sonic replied, just as fake before he got out of his seat and retrieved the napkin.

Everyone, except Vanessa and especially Amy, looked at Como and Sonic strangely before returning to their conversations. Sonic excused himself to use the bathroom while Vanessa began clearing plates. When Sonic returned from the bathroom he literally bumped into the yellow feline in the kitchen.

'Oh, uh, hi there, Vanessa.' He said nervously.

'Hello, Sonic.' Vanessa smiled.

'So, uh, I think we're all going to get going now. It's been a long day and-'

'Have I made you uncomfortable?' She cut him off, startling him.

'What? Uh, no, not at all. Why would you-'

'Because,' she cut him off again and took a few steps closer to him, 'I can try and make you feel more comfortable?'

'Okie doke, we will be going now. We have to get going real early in the morning so we'll just come in to get Cream and be off. See you 'round!' Sonic said nervously before dashing back to the living room.

He stopped to find his team, casually conversing as they usually would before turning to look at him. He must have looked like a nervous wreck, because they all gave him a worried look before standing up.

'Sonic, buddy, you ok?' Tails asked.

'Yep, fine. Let's go. I'm beat.' He said quickly as Vanessa walked in behind him.

'Sonic, you sure you're ok? Because-'

'Trust me, Ames. I'm fine, let's get going, yeah?' Sonic said as he jogged up to the pink hedgehog and picked her up in a hug before pecking her on the cheek.

Everyone, including Amy, tried their hardest to hide their surprise. Unfortunately, for Vanessa, she couldn't hide her anger. She gave Amy nothing short of a death glare before looking back to Sonic and the others with a cheery smile.

'Thanks for your hospitality, Vanessa. Goodnight!' Sonic said as he practically pushed everyone out the door.

He pushed everyone all the way over to the door of the barn before Tails opened the door and allowed everyone to walk in before them. He looked over his shoulder to his brotherly figure, who still fashioned the most nervous look he'd ever seen, before walking inside himself.

'Alright, Faker, what the hell was all that about?' Shadow asked, unable to hide his smirk.

'Yeah, I've never seen you that nervous?' Knuckles added.

'Why did we have to rush off? Vanessa was so nice? Plus she had a real sense of style about her.' Rouge said with a smile.

Sonic gave Cosmo a nervous look, knowing she knew why he was so nervous and in a panic. He looked at her, hoping she would be the one to explain, but she bravely gave him a look as if to say no-way-you're-telling-them. He let out a sigh before scratching the back of his quills.

'Ok, ok. Vanessa put the moves on me!' Sonic exclaimed.

Everyone went silent, so silent you could hear a pin drop. Tails, Shadow and Knuckles exchanged a blank look before burst into a fit of laughter. Sonic looked at them in surprise before trying to persuade them he was telling the truth. Cosmo and Rouge immediately looked at Amy to see her reaction, which came as a surprise to them. She was… smiling?

'He's not lying! I saw it!' Cosmo backed up the blue blur.

'Wait, what?' Tails immediately stopped laughing.

'They're full of it.' Shadow chuckled.

'They're not.' Amy piped up, causing everyone to stare at her.

'Well, think about it? Why else do you think he came up and hugged me before kissing me on the cheek? Did you not see the death stare she gave me after that? I don't think she'll be bothering him again anytime soon.' Amy said with a fake smile before walking out of the barn and closing the door behind her.

'Oh… well, that saves any of us asking the next question.' Knuckles said.

'Well, I had to do something?' Sonic shrugged.

'You know it means something to her though, Blue.' Rouge stated firmly.

'She seemed to take it pretty well?'

'You're kidding right?'

'Come on, guys. Let's just go to sleep.' Shadow said as he turned around and through himself on a bail of hey.

Everyone turned around and set off in their own directions before getting comfortable and quickly falling asleep. After Amy had cooled off, and knew everyone was asleep, she came back into the barn and wet to sleep herself. She would have preferred to check on Cream, but there was a good chance Vanessa would attack her!


	6. Let's Get Out Of Here!

'Well, I'm not doing it.' Amy said firmly.

'What's your excuse?' Knuckles huffed.

'You're kidding right?'

'Fine.'

'Well, I'm not doing it. What if she wakes up?!' Sonic exclaimed.

'Fair enough, so Sonic and Amy are definitely out.' Tails said.

The gang got up early, just as the sun was rising in order to get the Tornado ready to leave. Once it was packed up and ready to go, they had to decide who went in to get Cream out of the spare room. It had to be someone who could carry her, not that she weighed very much. Plus, if the person woke Vanessa up they'd all be screwed. The team had come to the conclusion that this feline may or may not be a little bit crazy.

'Personally, I think Rouge would be the best candidate.' Knuckles smiled as he leaned against a post and rested his eyes.

'What?! Why me?' She exclaimed.

'Plenty of reasons. You can carry her, you can fly if you have to, you're a soy so you know how to be sneaky and if you get caught, Vanessa likes you.'

'She likes me? So what?!'

'So you'll get away with it better than Sonic or Amy will.'

'Well… Well, what about Shadow?' Rouge pointed to her G.U.N partner.

'He looks too much like Sonic. Before we know it, that crazy cat will be cracking onto him.' Knuckles smirked and Tails couldn't help but giggle.

'Argh! Fine.' Rouge sighed in defeat.

'Rouge made her way inside and quickly up to the spare bedroom where Cream lay peacefully. She picked her up and flew back down to the hallway leading to the front door. She was almost there, she just had to walk past the kitchen and she was out. She poked her head around… low and behold a yellow feline is standing in the kitchen making a pot of tea.

'_What the hell is she doing up so goddamn early?!' _Rouge screamed to herself.

She poked her head around again, trying to stay out of Vanessa's peripheral vision, and waited for her to turn her back. Once she did, she jumped across the doorway and slipped out the front door, which luckily she left open. She flew as fast as she could to the Tornado which tails had prepared to lay Cream down in.

'You ok, Rouge?' Knuckles asked as he looked at the nervous bat's shaky hands.

'Shut up and get on the plane, we have to go now!' Rouge exclaimed in a whisper.

'What, why?!' Sonic asked.

'She's awake! She's in the kitchen!'

'Why is she up this early?' Shadow asked.

'How should I know?! Let's just go!' Rouge snapped again before flying into the sky.

Tails drove the Tornado silently along the path before rising the ship into the sky. Unfortunately, it was quiet enough for them to get away without Vanessa knowing. She looked out her kitchen window and watched them fly away, Sonic and Shadow running along the ground.

'Hmph, he can do so much better than that pink waste of fur.' She said to herself.

'Well, thank God that's over.' Amy said to Cosmo who was reading.

'You're not wrong.' She replied bluntly, too involved in her book.

'She was a little bit on the crazy side, hey, Amy.' Tails said with a smile.

'She was like a sluttier version of Rouge.' Amy mumbled.

'I HEARD THAT!' Rouge snapped of the communicator, having heard it over the Tornado's communicator.

'It was a compliment! Besides, you have better style, you're way prettier and you know when enough is enough.' Amy replied.

'That's more like it.' Rouge said proudly.

'I don't regret saving her, but geez if I'd known that was coming I wouldn't have been so nice to her.' Sonic said to Shadow.

'How nice were you?'

'Not that kind of nice! I'm not saying I would be mean but I'd brace myself.' Sonic shrugged, still running alongside his ebony twin.

'Don't lie, Sonic, you wouldn't know what you were doing.' Knuckles chuckled over the communicator after overhearing the last bit of their conversation.

Sonic huffed before getting into a silly argument with Knuckles and Shadow, which everyone turned on their communicators to listen to. It certainly lightened the mood after an awkward encounter with one of Sonic's previous Damsels in distress. It turned out be a pretty good day, it was long but sunny and warm. Filled with laughter and talking throughout all the travelling. They stopped around four o'clock when Tails discovered one of the Tornado's engines was overheating.

Everyone, including Shadow and except for Sonic were quite thrilled to see where they had stopped for the night. Tails landed the X-Tornado and began to do a few repairs, he suggested everyone take a walk and check the place out because this would be as far as they'd be going for tonight. They all walked for a short while before they could smell a familiar, salty aroma. Cosmo Ran towards the smell and opened up and few tree leaves to see the sun setting over the ocean. Everyone ran onto the sand before Knuckles and Cosmo ran into the water.

'Oh great.' Sonic sighed.

'Oh come on, Faker. It's not like you have to get in the water.' Shadow rolled his eyes before walking past him.

'Yeah, yeah.' Sonic said to himself.

'We can go and look for somewhere to stay if you want?' Amy said from behind him, causing him to turn around.

'Sounds better than being this close to the water.' Sonic replied with a smile.

The duo began walking along the beach for a little while before making their way back through the trees and back onto a dirt path. They walked in silence before Sonic noticed Amy's quiet mood. He looked over at her and she was simply staring at her feet.  
>He nudged her arm and sent her a little off balance, she returned the favour, only a little harder, causing him to almost fall off. They both began to laugh before Sonic picked her up and playfully tackled her to the ground.<p>

'Don't make me pull out my hammer, Hedgehog!' Amy giggled.

'Oh is that so, Amy?' Sonic said as he held his arms up, threatening to tickle her.

'No! No! Don't you dare!' Amy begged.

Sonic laughed as he began to tickle the pink hedgehog under the ribs and around the ribs. They rolled around in a small patch of grass until they stopped and stared into each other's eyes. They were both smiling until Sonic realized what was happening. His smile quickly faltered before he quickly got off her and helped her to her feet. They then continued to walk a few more steps in silence.

'That Vanessa sure was something, huh?' Sonic said, trying to make conversation.

'So many words come to mind, none of which are appropriate.' Amy snarled.

'You're probably right.' Sonic giggled.

'I have to admit, I was pretty shocked at how you handled it, I think we all were.' Amy said, a pained looked growing on her face.

'I'm sorry about that, Ames. I didn't know what else to do, I probably took you by surprise.' Sonic shrugged.

'You're sorry for the wrong reason, Sonic.' Amy looked at him with a hint of a smile.

Sonic looked at her with a confused expression on his face. Amy ignored him and walked ahead of him after spotting a small house up ahead. She jogged ahead little before feeling something grab her arm and pull her back.

'What do you mean I'm sorry for the wrong reason?' Sonic asked.

'Hey guys! Check it out! There is a house up ahead!' Knuckles and Cosmo yelled out from just up ahead of them.


	7. Old Friends and a Threatening Face

Amy turned her head back to face her blue hero before shaking him off, leaving him dazed and confused. They all ran up to the house and knocked on the door politely, awaiting to see who would answer it this time around.

'Hello? Can I help you?' A tall, dark echidna asked as he answered the door.

'Uh, hi there. We were just wondering if you knew of-'

'Sonic the Hedgehog?' The echidna cut Tails off.

'Um, yes?' Sonic answered nervously.

'Juliet! Juliet! Come here, quickly!' The echidna called out over his shoulder.

A pretty, turquoise hedgehog ran down the stairs in her robe and a towel on her head and up to the echidna in a panic, not noticing their visitors. She must have thought someone had been shot by the expression on her face.

'Diego! What's the matter? What are you-' Juliet cut herself off when she laid eyes on Sonic.

'Sonic the Hedgehog?'

'Juliet?' Sonic replied.

Knuckles, Shadow, Amy, Rouge and Cosmo all took a subtle step back and looked at their friend curiously. Who were these people? How did Sonic know this female hedgehog? Rouge couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief, this hedgehog was old enough to be his mother. Plus, the echidna appeared to be her husband or partner of some sort.

'It's so good to see you again, my dear!' Juliet exclaimed as she embraced Sonic in a warm hug.

'Yeah, it's great to see you too.' Sonic replied and politely hugged her back.

'Please, come inside. These must be your friends! Any friend of Sonic's is a friend of ours, please come in and make yourselves comfortable.'

The team walked inside and sat down in the living room when Juliet and her husband, Diego, asked what they were doing around these parts. Sonic quickly explained their situation and introduced everyone to Juliet and Diego. Amy asked how they knew each other, as it turns out, Sonic had saved Juliet once from one of Eggman's robots and ended up getting himself hurt. She took him in and helped him heal.

'So tell me, where are your other two friends?' Diego asked.

'They're probably another mile back. Cream is in the Tornado and Tails is fixing it, he thinks one of the engines overheated.' Knuckles answered.

'You need to get them here, it will be dark soon!' Juliet exclaimed.

'Which reminds me, where is Alycia?' Diego asked firmly.

'Who is Alycia, sir?' Cosmo asked.

'Our daughter.' He answered with a smile.

'_Shit._' Rouge mumbled under her breath and looked over at Amy.

As it dawned on dark, Sonic had sped back to the Tornado, filing Tails in on everything that had happened that afternoon. Of course, Tails came out with a smart remark saying they were lucky to be travelling with him, otherwise they'd be sleeping in the forest. Sonic carried Cream back to the small but beautiful beach house and Juliet put her in a lovely spare room, where she remained peaceful and asleep.  
>Tails was quickly introduced to their hosts and discovered he and Diego had a great deal in common. Diego worked at a large company where he was in charge of all the mechanics and engineering. Once they got to talking about that, they didn't stop.<p>

'I'm home!' A female voice yelled out from the front door.

'It's about time, Alycia. You know you're supposed to be home by dark.' Juliet said firmly, still with a smile on her face.

'Sorry, Mama, I just-' Alycia cut herself off when she noticed all the people in her living room.

'Oh, hello.' She greeted them politely.

Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Shadow quickly shot up out of their seats. Their mouths agape, staring at the eighteen-year-old purple echidna. She was nothing short of stunning, could easily pass for a model. She had her bikini on, her long, beautiful hair flowing down her back. Her make-up was practically perfect, not even smudged, assuming she'd spent the day at the beach.  
>It suddenly occurred to Rouge that Amy wasn't the one that need to worry about the daughter, she wasn't about to hit on Sonic. <em>Rouge <em>herself was the one that needed to start stressing. Alycia could jump in and take Knuckles out from under her nose at the drop of a dime. Which was really saying something, because everyone around their area knew that Rouge was the girl to go for. What happens when she gets knocked down a peg?

'Hello, I'm Rouge.' Rouge said as she stepped forward to shake her hand.

'Hiya, I'm Alycia. Sorry to be blunt, but do I know any of you?' She asked politely as she shook her hand.

'Darling, do remember when I told you about Sonic the Hedgehog? He saved my life once. Well, he and his friends need our help tonight so they'll be staying here until they move out in the morning.' Juliet said with a large smile.

'Oh, Juliet, we don't want to be trouble.' Sonic said nervously.

'Nonsense. You will stay with us until you are good and ready. I don't you believe you met my daughter when you were here?' Juliet said as she pushed Alycia towards the blue hedgehog.

Sonic shook the purple echidna's hand and smiled at her intently, making Amy's blood boil. Amy, Rouge and Cosmo all exchanged looks. Cosmo knew she had nothing to fear, except the fact that this poor Alycia girl might not survive the night if she even looks at Knuckles or Sonic the wrong way.  
>She couldn't help but let her mind wander over to Tails, not that she liked him in that way or anything! Would Alycia be interested in him? Not that she cares! But no, she is two years older than him. Not that it matters!<p>

Over dinner, Rouge kept her eyes firmly glued to the purple echidna, unless she was speaking or being spoken to. Alycia could never pass for a spy, if Knuckles was sitting right next to her then her head would be turned at a ninety degree angle. She didn't once see the beach babe take her eyes off him! She restrained herself from leaping over the table and pinning her to the ground, but she knew that wouldn't go down all that well. Amy noticed the steam coming out of Rouge's ears and tried to think of a way to calm her down. Maybe bringing up a topic of conversation that both her and Alycia could talk about.

'So, Alycia, what are you interested in?' Amy asked when the conversation died down.

'Oh, well, when I'm not at the beach with my friends I'm out shopping. I'm really into fashion and all the latest trends. I'm actually taking a small course in make-up and hair design right now as well.' Alycia answered proudly.

'We're very proud of our girl.' Diego said as he cupped is daughter's cheek.

'So what sort of fashion are you into?' Rouge asked.

'Mainly beachy stuff. Floral shorts, prints and all that jazz. You seem to be the fashion type too, Rouge?' Alycia said with a small smile.

'I'll take that as a compliment I guess.'

'Of course!'

'Well I'm more into the stuff you see on the catwalk. Classy, trendy, _all that jazz._' Rouge said, looking at the purple echidna.

The boys hadn't exactly been listening to their talk of fashion, make-up and all that excess crap, but when a brief yet intense stare happened between the ivory bat and the dark lavender echidna, it occurred to them that something might be going on behind the scenes. Something only girls understood. Juliet and Diego got to talking about something they had to do the following day, when Cosmo and Amy sunk into their shoulders and began to stare at Knuckles. He quickly worked out that the 'behind the scenes' thing was because of him.

'You know you're screwed right. Alycia seems just as, if not more, feisty than Rouge.' Shadow chuckled as he spoke to Knuckles.

'No one is crazier or feistier than that bat.' Knuckles answered.

After dinner, Alycia and her parents went upstairs to bed. Amy, Cosmo and Rouge went into the spare room and set up an excuse for a bed around Cream's bed. The boys remained in the living roomed and made themselves comfortable on the lounges.

'He makes a good point, but I think that echidna has taken a fancy to you, Knux.' Tails smiled.

'We sound like a group of girls.' Knuckles huffed.

'Don't try and change the subject. You can't deny she's a bit of a looker.' Sonic chuckled as he propped his head up on his hands.

'Christ, don't let Amy hear you say that, Faker.' Shadow smirked.

'Huh?'

'Give it boys. Just shut up and go to sleep!' Tails said before throwing a pillow at someone's face.

-  
><em>'Knuckles, you're going the wrong way.' A voice echoed.<em>

_'What? Tikal, is that you?'_

_'Yes. Change you're course, you shouldn't be near the ocean.' Tikal answered bluntly._

_'Where are we meant to be going? Help us!'_

_'You need to travel through a small patch of desert before entering a rainforest again. There you will find the tombs.'_

_'Are you sure?'_

_'Yes, and for the love of Mobius, Knuckles. Stay away from that lavender echidna, we all know Rouge is the one for you.'_

_'What?!'_

_…_

_Tikal? Tikal!'  
><em>-__

'How are you feeling, Rouge?' Cosmo asked as she lay in her bed.

'Fine, why?'

'Don't play dumb. I could have sworn you were going to leap over that dining room table and attack that girl!' Amy said as she propped herself up to look at her friend.

'I was just going to let her know what was what?' Rouge said as innocently as possible.

'In her own home?' Cosmo pointed out.

'Oh, shut up.'

'Can't you just admit you like Knuckles?' Amy asked.

'Nope. How about you tell us where you and Big Blue got off too today?' Rouge asked with a coy smile.

'Good thing she changed it to an interesting topic.' Cosmo giggled.

'Nothing happened? We walked, we laughed, he tackled me, we laughed more, he apologized for the bold move in front of Vanessa, I told him he was apologizing for the wrong reason and that's when Cosmo and Knuckles came in.' Amy said casually.

'What?!' Rouge and Cosmo exclaimed simultaneously in a whisper.

'What?' Amy replied confused.

'What do you mean he tackled you?' Cosmo asked.

'He was just tickling me?'

'Pfft, and you think he doesn't have feelings for you.' Rouge smirked.

'Also, what do you mean he was apologizing for the wrong reason?' Cosmo added.

'He was apologizing for taking me by surprise. I wanted an apology for him kissing me without meaning it.' Amy admitted.

Rouge and Cosmo exchanged a sad look, even though they could barely see each other in the dark. While their pink friend was a little on the crazy side when it came to Big Blue, she made a pretty good point. The two assured her it was nothing to look into, hence why he would've looked so confused when she told him he was apologizing for the wrong reason.

'Goodnight, girls.' Amy said as she shrugged off their attempts to comfort her.

'Night, kiddo.' Rouge replied.

'Nigh-night.' Cosmo added.


	8. Different Paths

The next morning, Knuckles jumped off the lounge and woke the other boys up. Shadow whacked him one with a pillow before lying back down but Sonic and Tails were eager to see what he was in such a panic about, considering it was a rare occurrence.

'Alright, calm down, Knuckles.' Tails said as he rubbed his eyes.

'What are you wailing about, Knucklehead?' Sonic asked through a yawn.

'Tikal, she came to me again!' Knuckles exclaimed.

'That sounded so corny. So what, anyway?' Shadow mumbled.

'And she actually told me something, so HA!' Knuckles said proudly.

'Oh yeah? What did she have to say?' Sonic said as he rolled his eyes before standing up to stretch.

'She said we're going the wrong way, that we shouldn't be near the ocean.'

'What?' Tails asked confused.

'She said something about changing course and going through a small patch of desert before coming into rainforest. She said that's where the tombs are hidden.'

'Is that all she said?' Shadow asked.

'Uh… yeah? Why?' Knuckles answered quickly.

'Just asking? Chill out.'

'Well then, let's get the girls and get going!' Sonic said with his usual, large grin.

Tails, Knuckles and Shadow went outside to make sure the Tornado was ready to go, Tails hoped the sea salt hadn't affected any of the other machines. Sonic walked past the kitchen on the way to wake up the girls when he saw Juliet making herself a cup of tea in the kitchen. The blue blur couldn't put his finger on it, but something looked off about the turquoise hedgehog. As if she was tired, run down or just sad.

'Hey there, Juliet.' Sonic greeted her.

'Oh! Good morning, dear.'

'I hope we didn't wake you.' Sonic scratched his quills awkwardly.

'Not at all.'

'Great. Sorry to be off so early but we have to get going, we've figured out we're headed the wrong way and Cream isn't getting any better so I'm just going to get the girls and-'

'The bat friend of yours… Rouge, isn't it?' Juliet cut him off.

'Um, yes?'

'Does she have some sort of relationship with the red echidna?' She asked firmly, almost frightening Sonic.

'Uh, well, uh… I guess you could say that.'

'Hmmm.'

'Why is that?' Sonic asked curiously.

'My daughter, Alycia, she took a great shine to him. I noticed a great tension between her and Rouge, however, I figured he may have had something to do with it.' Juliet said as she took a sip of her tea.

'Oh, well… I really don't-'

'I think you all best leave before she wakes up. She has quite a temper…'

'Oh, ok? Well, I'll get the girls and we'll be off. Thanks for your hospitality and all, we'll be sure to pay you back some day.' Sonic said with a smile.

'No, dear. This is me paying you back for saving my life, please travel safe.' Juliet said, returning to her sweet self as she gently pecked Sonic on the cheek.

Sonic nodded politely, hiding his confusion and slight fear before dashing off to the room where the girls lay. He first picked up Cream and dashed her to the Tornado where Tails had set up her special seat once again. He then ran back to wake up the other three and get the hell out of there…

'Amy! Amy, wake up!' Sonic exclaimed in a whisper.

'Huh? Sonic?' She replied sleepily.

'Get up we have to go.'

'Where's Cream?!' Amy looked around.

'In the ship, now get up!' Sonic shook her again before moving on to Cosmo and Rouge.

Amy shook off his strange actions before standing up and beginning to fold the blankets on her bed. She quickly tidied up the room before poking her head out the door to try and find Juliet, maybe even Diego or Alycia. Sonic reefed her by the arm and made her face him.

'Sonic! What are you doing?' Amy looked at him worried.

'Are you ok, Big Blue?' Rouge asked curiously.

'Something is wrong here, let's just go.'

Just as the words slithered out of his mouth, they heard a large bang come from upstairs. Next came light screeching and screaming and smashing and crashing. Then Juliet started yelling for someone to calm down before the next voice started protesting…

_'But I want him!' _Alycia bellowed.

_'Alycia, please calm down.'_

_'No, Daddy! He should be with me! Not that stupid bat!'_

Rouge smirked when she realized the dark lavender echidna was acting like a two year old over the fact Knuckles was leaving. Sonic, Amy and Cosmo shot her a serious glare before they all dragged each other out of the house. Rouge picked up Cosmo and flew towards the ship after hearing someone thumping down the stairs.

'Sonic! What's going on?!' Amy asked in fear.

'I don't know, Ames. Let's just get out of here!' Sonic said as he grabbed her hand and started running.

Lucky for all of them, Tails had no choice but to park the X-Tornado a few hundred metres away from the house. By the time Sonic and Amy made it there, everyone was ready to go, all exchanging weird looks before looking to Sonic asking for an explanation.

'I don't know, I swear!' Sonic exclaimed, sub-consciously still holding Amy's hand.

'You're the only one that has met them before, surely you knew that something was wrong!' Rouge exclaimed.

'I have only met Juliet! When I rescued her, I got hurt and she brought me back to help me heal. I remember her telling me that her husband was away somewhere on a business trip and she had a daughter but she was spending sometime away somewhere.' Sonic explained, suddenly realizing he was still holding Amy's hand before quickly dropping it.

'At a mental institute?!' Shadow exclaimed.

'Come on guys, chill out. We can't jump to conclusions.' Cosmo jumped in.

'Cosmo's right, we don't know the whole story and we don't need to, let's just get outta here and find these tombs!' Tails exclaimed as he fired up the ship.

Sonic helped Amy into the Tornado before he and Shadow dashed off into the distance. Knuckles and Rouge lay back on the wings of the Tornado and took in the crispy, salty breeze, deciding to take it easy today while Tails, Cosmo and Amy worked out coordinates that matched up watch Knuckles had explained in the vision Tikal had sent him.

'I can't work out what he's talking about!' Tails slammed the dashboard in frustration.

'It's ok, Tails, we'll work it out.' Cosmo said as she placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, making him blush.

'Have you found anything relating to what Knuckles told us?' Amy asked.

'Well, I've found traces of a huge rainforest. But there are no signs of a desert anywhere!' Tails exclaimed.

'Can't you zoom up in the GPS?' Amy asked.

'Well, yeah?'

'Do that. Maybe it's so small it hasn't picked up on it yet.'

Tails keyed in all the possible advanced settings he could before low and behold, up popped traces of a hot, sandy desert. The three exclaimed in glee before realizing how far off course they had been, they really had wasted time since they had left home. Amy couldn't help get a little fired up when she realized the trip to that sultry cat's property was completely unnecessary.

Tails sent out the good news to the other's communicators and turned the Tornado onto the right course, allowing Sonic and Shadow to follow him until he was on the right track. They couldn't smell the beach anymore, so they must be getting somewhere.

'There it is! I can see mirages of the desert up ahead!' Tails exclaimed as he pointed ahead.

'Great! How far do you think we are, pal?' Sonic asked through his wrist communicator.

'A few miles at least, not too far though.'

Sonic nodded before closing his communicator. Everyone when quiet as they watched the desert grow bigger and bigger as they got closer to it. It was only seconds later that Tails, Cosmo and Amy nearly jumped out of their skin after hearing an almighty scream in the back.

'Cream?!' Cosmo wailed as she turned around to see the rabbit tossing and turning.

'Mama! Mama! Run away!' Cream screamed in her sleep.

'What's she talking about?' Amy screeched in a panic.

'I don't know?!'

Tails panicked and struggled to regain himself as the Tornado started shaking. He couldn't keep it back on course. Rouge and Knuckles wobbled about on the wings before Knuckles slid off, luckily being narrowly caught by the ivory bat. Sonic and Shadow looked up to see the ship was losing control and began to worry.

'What's going on up there, Tails?' Sonic asked firmly.

'Cream's going berserk?!' Tails screeched.

'WHAT?!' Sonic and Shadow exclaimed in sync

'Land the ship, you doofus!' Knuckles wailed, beginning to slip from Rouge's grasp.

'Help me! Help Mama! It hurts!' Cream wailed again.

Tails tried to land the X-Tornado as quickly as possible. He was easily the most skilled pilot anyone in the entire team knew, but when it came to someone he cared for in danger then combine that with operating heavy machinery, he couldn't help but panic a little. He managed to only scrape up the left side of the ship, which Knuckles and Rouge easily dodged.

He turned off the engines and open the glass roof. As everyone leapt onto the wings to get a better view of their small friend, she stopped screaming. Her tossing and turning had dialed down to a few rolls here and there before she sunk into her pillow and the small, sleepy smile returned to her face. Everyone looked at her in astonishment and confusion, wondering what happened.

'What the hell was that?' Amy said with a shaky voice.

'I don't know, she just…' Cosmo trailed off, Tails remained silent.

'What happened? You guys were the only ones to see it?' Shadow asked.

'And the only ones to nearly kill us.' Knuckles mumbled.

'Chill out, Knucklehead.' Sonic snapped.

'What happened?' Sonic said as he walked in front of his brotherly figure.

'She just started screaming?' Tails answered.

'She was calling out for help.' Cosmo added.

'She was telling Vanilla to run, then she said it hurt.' Amy stated, fighting back the frightened tears.

Sonic looked at Amy, watching her lips shake as she forced herself not to cry. He wanted to comfort her but he knew it would only be misinterpreted. Plus, apparently he still had to apologise for something to which he didn't know exactly what it was. That aside, he'd never seen Amy so scared. Not even when she was facing death in the hands of Eggman.

'She was having a nightmare!' Rouge exclaimed, breaking the silence, and Sonic's train of thought.

'Huh?' Knuckles questioned.

'We figured out that she is simply asleep, right? What you described simply sounds like a nightmare. Doesn't that mean she is in something called REM sleep or something?' Rouge asked, not really knowing if she was right.

'What does that have to do with anything?' Shadow asked.

'Well, you can wake people up from a nightmare. You shouldn't, but you can. Try waking her up!' Rouge exclaimed.

Shadow and Knuckles took a step forward before leaning down to the small girl, still curled up in her small seat in the Tornado. Amy stood in front of Cream and outstretched her arms, pushing her friends away, without saying a word.

'What are you doing, Amy?' Cosmo asked.

'Rouge just said even though it's possible to wake them up, it shouldn't be done. We all know that this isn't an average bad dream, especially when Egghead is involved. I don't want to risk it.' She said bluntly, looking at her red boots.

'She's right. Let's just… figure out what we're doing for tonight and go from there.' Sonic said, trying to back up Amy's point.

The walked around for a little while before checking out the side of the ship. It was certainly more damaged than first anticipated, and unfortunately someone had to tell Tails before he saw it himself. He jumped into the driver's seat and started scanning the GPS. No fresh water this side of the desert, nor any signs of houses or towns until a few miles into the rainforest. Tails was growing increasingly frustrated and angry, plus his worry wasn't lessening about Cream.

'Tails?' Cosmo said, startling him.

'Huh? Yeah?' He answered blankly.

'Sorry to scare you but, you need to come and see the side of the ship.' Cosmo bowed her head.

'Why?' Tails said, trying not to grit his teeth.

'Please, just come.' Cosmo said before walking off.

Tails followed her to find everyone, except Cream of course, around the left side of the ship, staring at the Tornado. The girls hung back, sitting on the little bits of grass that lay around while the boys inspected the damage. It looked as though a tree had ripped right into the side and made a big hole. Luckily it had missed all the engines and such, but they certainly couldn't be on display. That's when they'd get ruined.

'I'm real sorry about her, buddy.' Sonic said, sympathetically.

'Reckon you can fix 'er up, Tails?' Knuckles asked.

The two tailed kitsune just stared at the damage blankly before walking up to it and tracing a patch of it with his fingertips. Cosmo took a few steps towards him before Shadow put his arm out to stop her. He let out a sigh and bowed his head before massaging his temples. He turned around to face the other and slapped on a small smile.

'It's no one's fault but mine, I should have been more careful.' Tails said blankly.

'It's not your fault, Ta-'

'There is no fresh water or civilian life around here.' Tails began, cutting Amy off. 'The Tornado will make it to the other side of the desert and onto the outskirts of the rainforest. Cream needed water if anything. When we get there, I'll fix this up while you all go and find somewhere or someone we can stay with. Ok?'

Everyone was taken aback a little by Tails' 'take charge' attitude, but they figured it was simply because he was tired, frustrated and worried about Cream. To top that off, he now had to fix the ship before they could go much further. Everyone nodded to agree with him before he turned around and made his way back to the driver's seat of the Tornado.

Cream and Amy checked on Cream once more before strapping themselves into the passenger seats and Knuckles and Rouge made their way back onto the wings on the ship. Knuckles couldn't help but feel a little nervous, but he knew he would probably get back-handed by a certain white bat if he said anything. Before they knew it, they were off again and crossing the small patch of desert before the rainforest.

The desert wasn't as small as Tails had hoped, causing him to grow more and more nervous about the Tornado. That was, until Cream started moaning in the back seat. Amy turned around to see her visibly sweating and… crying? She stripped the blankets off of her and splashed a little cold water on her face. It made her stop crying, even though it was only in her sleep. Tails' nerves began to rise in his stomach once more as he felt rumbles coming from all around the ship.

'How much further, Knux?' He asked calmy.

'It couldn't possibly be much further. She said it was only a small patch, I swear!' Knuckles protested.

Sonic gave Shadow a look before nodding, as if the both understood each other with a simple look. The two sped off into the distance without a sound, leaving the others dumbfounded. They returned only seconds later, leaving a dust storm behind them with news that stopped Tails from having a heart attack.

'The rainforest begins over this hill, a mile tops.' Shadow said with a hint of a smile.

'Thank God.' Tails mumbled to himself.

'Let's get going then!' Sonic cheered before he and Shadow dashed off again.


	9. It's a Jungle Out There

When the X-Tornado landed on the rich, green grass of the rainforest, Tails leapt out and made his way to the damaged side of his precious ship. Anyone would think that the Tornado was his child. He whipped out his toolbox that he kept stored away in a hidden compartment and quickly got to fixing the inside of the machine.

'Do want any help with that, Tails?' Cosmo asked nervously.

'I could use a sweet assistant?' Tails said boldly as he blushed.

Cosmo blushed and bowed her head at his comment before taking a seat next to him and passing a tool that was just out of his reach. Knuckles and Shadow exchanged a look before rolling their eyes and folding their arms.

'So what are we supposed to do?' Knuckles huffed.

'You're such a hothead. We're going to find fresh water and somewhere to stay tonight!' Amy exclaimed with a cheery smile.

'Fun.' Shadow said sarcastically with a large, fake smile plastered across his muzzle.

'Lighten up, guys. Let's go!' Sonic said cheerfully, following the ways throwing lush plants and trees.

Tails and Cosmo watched their friends wander off into the forest before turning back to the damaged Tornado. Tails poked his head inside the hole before extending his arm out to Cosmo, looking for the next tool. She placed it in his hand without saying a word before leaning back on her hands.

'I am sorry, you know.' Tails mumbled from inside the ship.

'What was that?' Cosmo asked intently.

'I'm sorry, for snapping earlier. I was just worried about Cream and I could've really hurt you all if I'd crashed the ship and…' Tails trailed off after pulling his head out to talk to the girl.

'Don't be sorry, Tails. We're all feeling the pressure. Besides, we're a lot closer to finding the tombs now.' She said with a cheery smile.

Tails' face instantly lit up when he realized that his friend had forgiven him, or never even been angry at him in the first place. He placed a friendly hand on her shoulder and looked into her in the eyes, causing her to smile widely. He playfully knocked her on the face with a fist before turning around to continue mending to ship.

While the Tornado was being tended to, Amy, Rouge, Sonic, Shadow and Knuckles traipsed through the thick scrub to look for somewhere suitable to stay the night. Sonic couldn't help but have a bad feeling that they wouldn't be going anywhere for a few days, he'd never seen Tails so worried about his own ship.

'Where are we?' Amy panted as she tried to untangle her dress from a vine.

'No idea. There is no way we are going to find anyone out here.' Shadow huffed.

'Amen, who would be crazy enough to live out here?' Knuckles added.

'Whoever is crazy enough to live in that strangely large house over there?!' Sonic pointed ahead.

Everyone followed Sonic's finger to find he was looking at a beautiful, floral house covered in vines and trees. It was obviously not abandoned, the lights were on and the garden appeared neat and tidy. That is, compared to the rest of the surroundings…

'I'll check it out.' Rouge offered.

She jumped up to get herself some momentum before gracefully flapping her wings. She slowly headed up, only to get herself tangled in vines and leaves stuck to her dark wings. Knuckles and Shadow fell over in hysterics, gripping their stomachs as if they were going to explode.

'Pipe down, you jerks! Get me out of here!' Rouge screeched as she squirmed around in the vines.

'Calm down, I got it.' Sonic smirked.

He jumped up onto a branch above her before spin dashing through the vines. Unprepared, Rouge screeched as she fell to the ground, landing on Shadow and Knuckles who certainly weren't impressed. Amy began to giggle by the time Sonic came back down and stood beside her, chuckling to himself.

'Come on then, let's go, you losers.' Amy said after she finally contained herself.

The gang walked towards the house cautiously, not sure if anyone else was around. Amy walked forward and politely knocked on the door, awaiting some sort of response. The door finally opened to reveal an elderly woman, a grey dog who looked up at them in fear.

'Who are you?' She asked timidly.

'Uh, hello, Miss. My name is Amy Rose and we were wondering if you could help us?' Amy asked cautiously.

'What kind of help?' She asked, hiding half her body behind the door.

'Please don't be scared of us, we don't bite!' Sonic smiled.

She looked up at him before stepping out from behind the door and closing it, leaving it on the latch. She supported herself on her walking stick, trying not to get tangled up in all the vines and bushes that surrounded her front steps.

'What's your name?' Shadow asked.

'Ariana.' She responded quietly.

'Do you live here alone, Ariana?' Rouge asked.

'No, my granddaughter takes care of me. She isn't in right now.'

'Nana?' A voice came from behind them.

The gang turned around to see a young, light green dog holding a basket standing before them. She looked at her grandmother and smiled before glancing around at all these unfamiliar faces around her front door. The girl looked no older than fifteen, if that, very young to be looking after someone.

'I recognize you.' She said, looking directly at Sonic.

'You do?'

'You too.' She said again, now looking at Amy.

'Really? Have we met?'

'My name is Summer, we've never met but I recognize the two of you. I assume these are your friends?' Summer said as she gestured to Shadow, Knuckles and Rouge.

'Yes, we kind of need some help. We-'

'Are you and Sonic some sort of duo?' Summer cut Amy off.

'Um, uh well.' Amy stuttered, caught off guard.

'Are there others?' Summer asked.

'Yes. We have a friend, a young girl. She is very sick and we are travelling to get her help. Our ship is being repair by our other two friends only a mile back if that. We saw your grandmother's house and stopped by to see if you knew anywhere nearby we could stay?' Rouge spat out, trying not to get interrupted.

'You'll stay with us. I know of Sonic and his heroic acts, I have no doubt you are all a part of it.' Summer said with a smile.

'They're heroes, my dear?' Ariana asked her granddaughter with an intriguing smile.

'Yes, Nana, so we need to help them for as long as they need.' Summer said as she walked towards her grandmother and kissed her on the cheek.

'We don't want to trouble you or anything.' Knuckles said, in his own attempt to be polite.

'Not at all, sir, it's-'

'It's Knuckles, please.'

'Knuckles, it's no trouble at all. Now please, go and get you're other friends. Bring them here and we shall prepare a meal for you all.' Summer said with a bright smile.

Sonic nodded before he, Knuckles and Shadow began to walk off towards Tails again. Amy and Rouge said another thank you to their hosts before letting them know they would be back soon. They quickly jogged to catch up with the boys, making sure not to tread in mud or trip over yet another vine.

'She was certainly mature.' Rouge commented, breaking the silence.

'A different kind of mature from you.' Knuckles mumbled through a chuckle, earning him one hell of a backhand to the head.

'I guess you'd have to be if you were the caretaker of someone else. Her grandmother seems nice, she was probably just a little frightened to have so many unexpected visitors.' Amy said with a smile.

'Yeah, you're not wrong. At the end of the day, we've got somewhere to crash until Tails fixes the ship.' Sonic said with his cocky grin, making Amy smile a little.

'We have to keep moving, though. We don't know what that turn was Cream had or how often it's going to happen. She needs help and she needs it now.' Shadow said firmly.

They soon arrived back where they had landed to find Tails and Cosmo sitting down, chatting away like the good friends they were. The duo looked over at the rest of their friends when they noticed them walking towards them with smiles on their faces.

'So, how'd you go?' Tails asked.

'We found a house, an old woman and her granddaughter live there.' Rouge stated.

'The girl recognized Sonic and Amy and invited us to stay with them. How did you go with the ship?' Shadow asked.

'I've repaired it the best I can with what I've got. It's not perfect but it'll get us to the tombs and home. I don't want to fly it until at least the day after tomorrow, just in case.' Tails stated firmly.

'No worries. Well, we can leave it here for the time being and get back to the house, it'll be dark soon. I'll get Cream.' Sonic said before leaping onto the wing of the Tornado to look down on Cream, who was still sound asleep.

After an early meal, Ariana suggested that Summer take their guest out the back of their house. Summer suddenly got excited and basically pushed the gang outside, where they found a beautiful pool, surrounded by flowers and trees in bloom. You certainly wouldn't guess it was here looking at the front. I was completely hidden from all the vines and taller trees. Cosmo got a little worried about swimming in clothes, but Summer assured her she had plenty of spares and she would be happy to wash, making the delightful girl feel so much better.

As evening set, Tails, Cosmo Knuckles and Shadow were playing shoulder wars in the pool. They were constantly demanding rematches, which never ceased. Sonic steered clear of the water, as usual and hung about in a tree overseeing the pool. Rouge Amy and Summer sat themselves down on the nearby lounge chairs, watching the others in the pool.

'So what is actually wrong with your friend, Cream?' Summer asked politely.

'We don't know yet. That's why we're travelling to find this mysterious Tikal.' Rouge rolled her eyes in frustration.

'She's helped us before, she sends visions to Knuckles and Sonic. Don't ask how, we couldn't tell you.' Amy giggled.

'Your friend Tails seems like a nice guy.' Summer said with a smile, breaking the minute silence, as she stared at him fighting of Cosmo in the pool.

'Uh, yeah. He's great, and smart too.' Amy said, giving Rouge a subtle look.

'Really? How do you mean?' Summer asked curiously, not severing her gaze from the fox.

'Well he builds planes and machines, he can fix almost anything and-'

'So he studies mechanics and engineering?' Summer cut Amy off.

'He hardly has to study it, he just does it.' Rouge shrugged.

'What a coincidence! I'm studying metals and engineering at school right now! Through distance of course, I live a long way from a school. I should ask him about it.' Summer said, her face beaming.

'Yeah, good idea. I'm sure he'd be happy to help.' Amy said with a small smile as she looked at Rouge.

They couldn't be sure, but they had their suspicions that little Miss Summer had taken a shine to Mr. Miles 'Tails' Prowler. Everyone knew he was off limits, they were all waiting for the day he would ask Cosmo for at least a dinner date. They hoped they hadn't given the young dog the wrong idea, maybe they should've mentioned something of Cosmo? It was too late to say something now. They'd just have to wait and see what happens.

'Alright, Rouge. You coming in?' Knuckles said as he leaned over the side of the pool to talk to the ivory bat.

'Don't kid yourself, babe.' She rolled her eyes.

'Yeah, it was a rhetorical question.' Knuckles smirked before leaping out of the pool.

Rouge's eyes widened before she looked up to find a red echidna bolting towards her. She let out a screech as she struggled to get out of the beach chair and out of Knuckles' grasp. Before she knew it, he had her picked up bridal style and she was sending him death threats left right and centre. He simply chuckled and stroked her head, just to annoy her before bombing into the pool, still holding her firmly.

The pool yard went silent before a wet, white bat leapt out of the water and scurried to the edge, gasping for air. Knuckles cheekily followed her with a goofy grin, only to get a playful punch to the face. Rouge complained that he ruined her make-up, which he hadn't, it was still perfect. He dragged her back under before the other joined in for an all-out splash war.

'Come in, Summer! The water's great!' Tails yelled out and gestured for the dog to get in.

'Alright, I'm coming!' Summer yelled out before slipping off her shoes and gracefully diving in, clothes and all.

Sonic and Amy remained in their spots, lounging about and watching their friends splashing about in the pool. Amy couldn't help but look up to see her blue hero, just casually laying on the tree branch and using his hands as a pillow. He looked so handsome, so relax and so brave even when he was doing nothing. She couldn't help but think about how excited she was for this all to be over. For Cream to be awake and well again, for everyone to back in the comfort of their own homes and for Amy to go back to trying to spend time with her hero.


	10. Speeding Up and Covering Tracks

When night came around, Sonic was still up in the tree overseeing the pool, snoozing. It was getting late and everyone seemed to be heading off to bed when his communicator began to ring, waking him up completely. He opened it to see it was from an unknown caller, but out of curiosity, he answered it anyway.

'Sonic, here.'

'Sonic, it's Eggman.'

'Ugh, what do you want Egghead?' Sonic said, rolling his eyes.

'Don't roll your eyes at me, pest. This is serious!' Eggman spat.

'Real serious or you-think-you-know-what-you're-doing serious?' Sonic smirked.

'Dammit, Hedgehog, don't push your luck! Your little friend Cream is in some serious trouble!'

'What now?'

'I was doing some calculations on the machine I used to trap Cream. In it's malfunction-'

'It didn't malfunction! You screwed up!' Sonic cut him off.

'Zip it, you brat! Do you want to know what's happening or not?!'

'Go on then.'

'I don't know what happened but something coursed through Cream that is slowly shutting down her body. The smaller the body, the less time it takes to shut down. It's-'

'Wait on, you're telling me that the heap of junk you created and trapped Cream in then sent basically turned her into Sleeping Beauty is actually killing her? All because you screwed up creating the machine in the first place?!' Sonic exclaimed, now sitting upright.

'As much as I hate to admit it but, yes.' Eggman sighed.

'But she had an episode, this fit. She started screaming in her sleep and yelling out weird stuff. Like a nightmare!' Sonic exclaimed, hoping it meant something.

'It's her body fighting to stay alive, she hasn't got long.' Eggman sighed.

'You better hope that Tikal can help Cream or I swear to God-'

'Calm down, Blue, she'll be fine. This is a one-time thing! But I'm trying to come up with an antidote.' Eggman cut him off.

'If Tikal can't help her, this antidote better work!' Sonic exclaimed before abruptly cutting off the communication.

He buried his face into his hands and sighed, wondering how he was going to tell the others that Cream was dying. Not only that, she was dying fast. If the Doctor was right, the smaller the body, the faster the machine takes it's effect. It's not hard to see that Cream is only a tiny thing. He tried to think of something positive, although all he could come up with was the fact that Eggman had actually come up with something, well, almost. They needed to find Tikal… _now._

His thoughts were soon cut off when he noticed a twig snap from bellow him. He looked down to find Amy walking back out to the pool and sitting down in the lounge chair. The blue hero couldn't help but notice how sad she looked, which everyone knew wasn't her usual attitude. He was about to jump down and go inside, hoping she wouldn't notice, until she looked over her shoulder before lying down and bursting into tears. Sonic had seen her cry before, but they were usually either happy tears or tears of fear for him.  
>Right now, he couldn't really tell why she was crying. It was genuine though. She sat up and composed herself, turning her wails into only sobs. He had to do something, she was his friend after all. He leapt out of the tree and began walking towards her after startling her.<p>

'Sonic?' She sniffed.

'Yeah, it's just me.' He smirked as he stopped in front of her.

'What are you still doing out here?' She asked as she tried to subtly wipe away a tear.

'I could ask you the same thing, Ames?'

Amy's eyes widened as she looked up at her hero. The night lights had begun glowing, and the moonlight shone through the vines and danced on the pool water, reflecting onto the two hedgehog's faces. Sonic's eyes dazzled in the light, making Amy's heart melt through her sadness. She closed her eyes before turning back to stare at her lap.

'He's really done it this time, Sonic.' She muttered, trying not to cry again.

'Who?'

'Eggman, hurting Cream. It's different when it's you or Knuckles, Shadow or Rouge, you can easily break free and take him on. It's different when it's me, I don't matter, but-'

'Why would you say that?' Sonic cut her off.

'What do you mean?' Amy asked, looking back at him.

'What makes you think you don't matter?' Sonic asked, growing angry.

'Get real, Sonic. You know as well as I do that I'm just dead weight to this team. Getting in the way when things matter the most, distracting everyone when I need to be saved yet again because I'm a target for another one of Eggman's stupid machines.' Amy rolled her eyes, allowing a tear to roll.

Sonic stared at her blankly for a minute, watching her silently beat herself up for crying in front of him. He suddenly shook his head, bringing himself back to the real world before reaching down to take both of her hands in his. He placed her hands on his shoulders before he placed his own on her waist.

'What are you doing?' She asked, surprised yet excited.

'Dancing, what does it look like?' He smirked.

'There's no music, silly?' Amy giggled.

'Pfft, I'm a professional dancer. When you're as good as me, you don't need music.' Sonic said with a cocky grin as he turned the pink hedgehog around, making her laugh.

He pulled her back into a warm embrace and continued to dance with her. He could feel her smile on his shoulder blade as their feet moved to… the silence. Although, it wasn't as silent as they thought. The sounds of trickling water, frogs croaking, insects chirping, leaves rustling, wind blowing. It was kind of magical, once the both of them could both hear it.

'Amy, this team would be nothing without you. Never forget that.' Sonic said nervous, wondering if he'd taken this too far.

'You don't mean that.' She replied, her smile fading.

'I do.' He said, making her look into his eyes. 'You're the pink, crazy, sticky, beautiful stuff that holds us all together, ya know?' Sonic chuckled.

'Beautiful?' Amy gasped. Sonic's heart skipped a beat when he realized what he'd said.

'Uh, um… Yeah, sure? Of course.' He smiled, causing her to blush.

'Cream is going to be ok, Ames. I promise.' Sonic said again.

The blue hedgehog pulled her into a small hug before resting his head on top of hers. He couldn't let her see his worried expression. The truth was, he couldn't promise that. It was merely minutes ago that he himself had learnt that one of their best friends was dying before them.

'I'm sorry, by the way.' Sonic smirked, looking at her again.

'What for?' Amy arched an eyebrow.

'I don't know. But whatever it was I did, I'm sorry, Ames.'

'Sonic, I'm upset about what you did in front of Vanessa.' Amy said breaking away from him and sitting back down.

'Vanessa?' He asked confused.

'You kissed me in front of her, just so she'd leave you alone. Not because you wanted to kiss me. You can't deny the looks everyone gave us, they were shocked. You know as well as I do it didn't mean anything.' Amy shrugged.

Sonic looked at her, more surprised than he'd ever been. She was right, he did use her to get his way, but he thought she would have enjoyed it. It did work at least, he got Vanessa off his back, now to fix things with someone far more important.

'How do you know it didn't mean anything?' Sonic shrugged, looking at the ground.

'What?' Amy asked as her eyes shot up to look up at her hero before she slowly stood up and walked towards him.

'How do you know it didn't mean something… _secret?'_ Sonic chuckled jokingly as he pulled Amy in to dance again.

'You're an idiot.' Amy laughed, still dancing with her blue hero.

'I know.' He smirked.

The two giggled for a second longer before they stopped dancing and just stared into each other's eyes. There was something so magical, so genuine about the way they looked at each other now. Something different. Both of their smiles faltered, as if they were realizing the difference too.  
>Sonic cupped Amy's face in his hands while Amy rest her hands on his strong chest. He slowly moved in, he was going to do it, no backing out now.<p>

'Sonic? Pal, you out here?' Tails called from the house.

The two hedgehogs gasped and ducked, praying the two-tailed kitsune hadn't seen them. They watched their friend look around in the doorway for a second longer before shrugging it off and walking back inside. They then let go of each other and stood up again. The moment was gone…

'I guess we should go inside, get some sleep.' Sonic said, looking at his sneakers.

'Yeah, you're probably right.' Amy agreed.

'Don't stress about Cream anymore, she's going to be just fine, ok? Promise?' Sonic asked.

'Promise.' Amy smiled.

Sonic returned her smile before walking past her, brushing his hand against hers. Amy caught her breath as she lightly felt his warm touch again. She stood still until she heard the door open and close again, knowing Sonic was inside.

She buried her face in her hands before shaking her head, trying to wake herself up from what she was sure was a dream. She turned around, took a deep breath and began to make her way to the house. She needed to get some sleep.

Yeah, like that would be happening tonight.


	11. Secrets in the Final Stretch

After a long night, Amy woke up the next morning to find Cosmo and Rouge's beds empty. She sat up and looked around while she stretched, wondering where they could've gotten to. She stood up and checked on Cream, nothing out of the ordinary. After she pecked Cream of the forehead, she walked out into the dining room to find everyone at the table having breakfast. She was startled to find everyone staring at her when she walked in.

'Hey there, kiddo.' Shadow said casually as he sipped on some orange juice.

'How'd you sleep, Amy?' Cosmo asked.

'Morning everyone. Uh, fine thanks, Cosmo.' Amy smiled before taking a seat herself.

'Good news, guys. Thanks to Summer, we'll be able to head out today.' Tails smiled.

'Really?' Knuckles said, his eyes wide in confusion.

'Not really thanks to me, I just helped. I was asking Tails for some help on my metals and engineering study and he was showing me some example on the ship. I just pointed something out and before we knew it we got to fixing it.' Summer smiled.

'Is that so?' Rouge asked, eyeing off Cosmo in her peripheral vision.

'You didn't strike me as a mechanic, Summer?' Cosmo smiled.

'No one guesses it.' She smiled back.

'My Summer is the brightest girl I know, I'm very proud of her.' Ariana bragged, making everyone smile.

'Where's Sonic?' Amy asked after a few minutes silence.

'He had an early breakfast and then went for a run, he'll be back soon.' Tail said before scoffing down some grapes.

Amy simply nodded to acknowledge Tails' comment before going back to drinking her tea. Seconds later, the Blue Blur himself burst in the front door to bid everyone good morning. His usual cheerful, cocky grin plaster over his muzzle, that was right up until his eyes set on Amy. His smile instantly disappeared before he quickly tried to find anywhere to look except her.

'Hey, Sonic. We should be ready to go soon after breakfast.' Tails smiled.

'Sounds good, pal. Couldn't have done it without you and Summer here!' Sonic's smile returned as he gestured to the young dog.

'It was really nothing. It will be a shame to see you all leave though.' She sighed.

'Agreed, you must come back and visit sometime. You're always welcome here, all of you.' Ariana said with a large, tired smile.

'Thank you, ma'am.' Cosmo bowed her head.

Soon after breakfast, the gang said their goodbyes to Summer and Ariana. They promised they would be back soon, bringing Cream when she was well enough to travel so she could meet them. Ariana packed them a basket of food for them all to travel with and Amy and Cosmo couldn't help but hug the elderly women for her kindness and hospitality.

They finally began walking, once again traipsing through the thick scrub to get back to the Tornado. They all began walking together, Shadow's turn to carry Cream. Eventually the girls began to lag behind and out of earshot from the boys.

'Amy?' Rouge asked.

…

'Amy?'

…

'Yo, space cadet!' She exclaimed.

'Huh?' Amy snapped back to reality.

'Trust Amy to answer to that.' Cosmo giggled.

'Something on your mind there, Hun?' Rouge questioned.

'What? No? Why would you think that?' Amy spat out faster than she intended.

'Plenty of reasons. The zoning out, the staring at the ground, the audible sighs and the depressing facials.' Cosmo said with a lop-sided smile.

'I don't know what you're talking about.' Amy huffed, her nose now in the air.

'You might as well tell us now, you know.' Cosmo shrugged.

'I have nothing to tell you.'

'Bullshit, Amy.' Rouge rolled her eyes.

'You wouldn't believe me if I told you, anyway.' Amy huffed again.

'Well, at least we've established there is something?' Cosmo smiled.

'Humour me?' Rouge snickered.

Amy turned her head to see her two friend's eyes nothing short of super glued to her face. She was kidding herself if she thought they were going to give in, Rouge in particular. She let out a sigh before shaking her head, still trying to accept the fact it wasn't a dream.

'Last night, I went out to the pool, just to be alone.' Amy began.

'So that's where you went?' Cosmo said, more to herself.

'Anyway, as it turns out Sonic was still out there from earlier that evening. He leapt down from the tree noticing I was…' Amy trailed off, not wanting to tell them she was upset.

'Noticing you were what?' Rouge arched an eyebrow.

'Noticing I was there. Anyway, long story short he knew I was feeling down about Cream so… so…' Amy trailed off again, beginning to smile.

'What happened?!' rouge and Cosmo exclaimed in sync.

'He took my hands and we began dancing, just to sounds of everything around us.'

'How romantic!' Cosmo exclaimed.

'How clichéd.' Rouge snickered.

'Anyway! He said he was sorry for whatever he had done to make me upset, even though he still didn't know what it was.'

'Did you tell him?' Cosmo asked.

'Eventually. I told him it was because of what happened in front of Vanessa and he shouldn't have done it because he didn't mean it.'

'Yikes, what did he say to that?' Rouge asked.

'This is where you won't believe me.' Amy sighed.

'Do tell!' Rouge asked curiously.

'He said, 'How do you know I didn't mean it?'' Amy smiled.  
>Cosmo and Rouge's jaws almost hit the ground before they linked arms with the pink hedgehog.<p>

'Then what happened?!' Cosmo asked.

'We continued dancing until…'

'Until?!'

'We were about to kiss.'

'KISS?!' The pair screeched simultaneously.

'Shhhh! But we didn't. Tails came out looking for Sonic, so we hid. Just like that the moment was over. He said goodnight and went inside, after making sure I was ok about Cream, of course.' Amy smirked.

'You're freaking kidding me…' Rouge gritted her teeth.

'We haven't been able to look each other in the eye all morning, let alone say two words to each other.' Amy admitted.

'You know you'll have to eventually, Amy.' Cosmo said as she placed a friendly hand on her shoulder.

'I know, that's what scares me.'

As Rouge and Cosmo tried to cheer up their pink friend, further ahead of them a blue hedgehog was being interrogated by three of his friends. The only difference being, they weren't exactly as comforting as the girls, aside from Tails. They prefer the 'tease until you bleed' approach.

'That's the corniest thing I've ever heard, and it came from you.' Shadow grimaced.

'Surely something happened after that though?' Knuckles smirked.

'Well, um…'

'It did, didn't it?!'

'We sound like a group of bitchy girls.' Sonic sighed.

'Spill your guts.' Shadow snickered.

'I leaned in to kiss her.' Sonic bowed his head. He couldn't believe he was telling these dorks.

Shadow and Knuckles stopped walking for a second to give each other a brief and blank stare before bursting into hysterics. They jogged to catch up to the other two, Knuckles clutching his stomach and Shadow trying not to drop Cream. Tails rolled his eyes, Sonic was almost as red as the echidna who was trying not to fall over.

'What happened then?' Knuckles giggled.

'You two are so immature.' Tails smirked.

'At least I had the balls to do it, Knucklehead. Rouge wears the pants in your relationship.' Sonic smiled proudly before Tails and Shadow began to laugh.

'Bite me, Sonic.' Knuckles sighed, admitting defeat.

'Alright, alright, enough games. What happened?' Tails asked.

'You came out, we had to hide and the moment was over.'

'Shit. Sorry.' Tails blushed.

'It's alright.' Sonic smiled.

'If it makes you feel any better, I had an awkward encounter with Summer last night while I was showing her the Tornado.'

'How so?' Shadow asked as Cream snuggled up into his chest.

'She started hitting on me, although I wasn't sure, then-'

'How can you not be sure?!' Knuckles asked, trying not to laugh.

'Oh, I was sure when she tried to attack herself to my face.' Tails bowed his head.

'Classy.' Shadow smirked.

'Delicate.' Sonic added.

'I'm just thankful we've left. We need to get to Tikal… today.' Tails stated firmly.


	12. Didn't See That Coming

When they got to the X-Tornado, Tails double checked all the repairs as everyone got settled in. He made a few more adjustments, just to be sure before talking to Rouge about where to go. She was pretty sure she knew where she was going, so she suggested she would simply fly ahead of everyone and they would follow. Tails agreed before taking his seat. Amy and Cosmo made one last check on Cream and they were ready to go.

'Alright, Rouge. After you!' Tails exclaimed through his communicator.

'Keep up, buttercup.' Rouge winked before gracefully flying above the canopy.

Tails raised the Tornado up above all the trees and just behind Rouge, the sun was blinding them after not having seen it through all the trees and vines for at least 24 hours. Amy, Cosmo and Cream remained in the passenger seats while Sonic, Shadow and Knuckles lay back on the wings of the Tornado. The rainforest was getting too thick for the hedgehogs to run, plus they wouldn't be able to see where the rest of their team was leading them.

'Alright, Rouge, run me through it. Where the hell are we?' Tails asked her through the ships communicator.

'If my memory is correct, we have to keep headed in this direction for a while longer. Then there will be a large tree, in full bloom, can't miss it.' She answered.

'What about it?' Knuckles joined in.

'There are a chain of them, representing the chaos emeralds.'

'So there are seven of these huge trees?' Amy asked.

'Right. The tombs are hidden beneath the roots of the tree in bloom representing the gold chaos emerald.'

'And how do you suggest we get in there if they're under a big ass tree?' Sonic asked, opening one eye from his nap.

'You'll soon find out.' Rouge smiled cheekily.

The ivory bat gracefully flew ahead, causing the boys to exchange glances and shrug off her mysterious attitude. Although, it wasn't exactly something out of the ordinary.

The gang continued travelling for at least a few more hours, all tired and exhausted… and worried. Cosmo was constantly glancing over her shoulder to see Amy looking out the window, her arms folded over herself and her eyes appearing deep in thought… one guess what about. Every now and then, Cosmo would look over further onto the wing to see Sonic with a sad expression on his face. She knew he was feeling just as bad. She only hoped it could be fixed when they got home.

'There's the first one. We're close now.' Rouge said through to everyone's communicators.

Everyone looked ahead to see a beautiful large tree in full bloom with large red flowers, representing the red chaos emerald. All eyes widened as they gazed upon the trees flowers, and not just any flowers, roses. Ripe, red roses. Sonic let out a small smile as Amy crossed his mind, but quickly shook it off and pulled himself together.

'Let me guess, gold is last, right?' Cosmo asked.

'You got it, Hun.' Rouge smiled.

A few miles ahead, the gazed upon another large tree. This one bloomed with dark blue flowers, beautiful, dark Delphinium Blue Bird flowers. They flew over the second tree, whilst looking at the blooming flowers. Amy couldn't help but relate the vibrant colour to Sonic's fur, it made her smile. Up until she remembered how close she had been to him last night, for it to all vanish in an instant.

A few miles ahead, just as before, they came across another large tree which was blooming with gorgeous, fragrant, white frangipanis. Everyone fell silent as they flew towards to beautiful tree, before turning their eyes so slightly towards Cream. Like a white frangipani, so delicate, so pure, so graceful and so beautiful. She didn't deserve this.

They continued on for miles ahead, seeing three more trees, representing three more chaos emeralds. Green Gladiolus, Pink Lotus Flowers and tiny beautiful light blue Sweet peas. Everyone couldn't help but gaze upon these flowers in all their glory and beauty and think about how ecstatic Cream would have been to see this.

They finally came to the last tree, and it was easy to see it was something special, different to all the rest. It was far bigger than all the others, if that were even possible. It bloomed radiantly with bright yellow daffodils, representing the last chaos emerald. Everyone leaned forward, as if the flowers were pulling them towards the tree.

'I'm guessing this is it, right?' Knuckles babbled as he stared at the tree.

'You got it.' Rouge replied.

'I guess I'll find somewhere to land.' Tails stammered.

Tails finally found a small clearing big enough to land the ship before allowing everyone to get out and stretch. Rouge flew around the clearing a little, looking for the best track to take to get the root of the gold chaos tree. Once she had decided she came back and sat down, exhausted.

'You ok, Rouge?' Shadow asked bluntly.

'Fine, why do you ask?'

'You look like shit.' He admitted with a smirk.

'Shut up.'

Shadow's eyes widened in surprise. He was expecting a smart comeback or her to leap up and attack him, but no. She just accepted it, she really was exhausted. He watched her lay down and cover her face with her arms before going over to Knuckles and Tails, letting them know something was wrong. Naturally, Knuckles went into a panic but tried to hide it.

'Chill out, Knux. She's probably just dehydrated and tired.' Tails said.

'Ok then, have we got water?' Knuckles asked as calmly as possible.

'I've got emergency supplies.' Tails stated firmly..

The two tailed kitsune walk over to the Tornado and opened up one of the hidden compartments before he pulled out a fresh bottle of water and walked over to the ivory bat who still lay on the ground of the ground peacefully.

'Here you go, Rouge.' Tails said with a smile.

No. I don't need it.' Rouge said after opening her eyes and pushing the bottle away.

'Rouge, you're weak and dehydrated. Don't fight it, please.' Knuckles said as he walked up behind Tails.

'Aw, Knuckie. You care about little old me?' Rouge winked.

'Drink the water you crazy bat.' Knuckles said through gritted teeth before storming off.

Tails and Rouge began to giggle before Rouge gave the fox a hint of a smile before taking the bottle and began to drink. Rouge thanked him after she devoured the entire bottle, she really was exhausted and dehydrated. Tails thanked her in return for getting them there, and told her how they couldn't have done it without her. Rouge being Rouge, she rolled her eyes and ruffled his hair before standing up. He stood up with her before earning a peck on the cheek from her, she was never very good with words in these situations.

'Ok, how are we all doing?' Sonic asked.

'We're ok over here, except…' Cosmo trailed off.

'What's up?' Sonic asked as he walked towards her and Amy.

'Cream.' Amy said sadly.

'What? What's wrong with-'

Sonic cut himself off when he looked over and saw Cream, still lying asleep in her special seat of the Tornado. She wasn't smiling anymore and her breathing and gone funny. Although, he didn't think that's what got the girl's attention. Her fur had gone pale and murky, and if he wasn't mistaken, it looked as though she had tear reside on her cheeks? Like she'd been crying in her sleep?

Sonic began to panic, a lot. Were these side effects? Or was she… no. She couldn't be, she wouldn't be breathing at all if she was. Besides, her mother trusted them to save her and that's what they were going to do, even if it killed them.

'We have to get her to these tombs, now.' Sonic said firmly before picking up her body.

'Yeah, let's get going. This way.' Rouge said, gesturing to the track she had previously found.

They walked for at least fifteen minutes before coming to the roots of the tree. They were so big and beautiful, especially the ones that made a passage down under the tree. Rouge gestured for everyone to follow her and to be carefully. They all slipped and slid a little before coming to a rough looking, underground staircase. They trekked through the dark, damp hallway until they came to a large room which had a grand entrance to the tombs, surround by lights and gems.

'Here they are.' Rouge sighed with relief.

'Well done, Rouge.' Sonic said, giving her his signature thumbs up.

'Cheers, Big Blue.'

The ivory bat cautiously walked forward to the large door that made the entrance to the tombs. She stared at it for a minute before Knuckles came up behind her and held her push it open. Usually she would bat him away or tell him she didn't need his help, but this time she just allowed him to stand by her. Maybe this entire trip has really taken its toll on everyone.

Knuckles and Rouge walked in first, followed by Sonic who was carrying Cream. Cosmo, Amy, Tails and Shadow followed behind them as they walked into the tomb cautiously to find the red echidna who had been sending visions to Sonic and Knuckles.

'Tikal?' Sonic and Knuckles asked cautiously.

'Hello, it's a pleasure to finally meet you all.' Tikal smiled.

'She needs help, and she needs it now.' Sonic said as he walked up to the female echidna with Cream.

'You are right, lay her here.'

Sonic lay Cream down on the stone bed that Tikal gestured to before stepping away to stand beside all of his friends. He stood next to Amy, noticing the worried look on her face. Tikal examined Cream's small body for a few minutes before letting out an audible, depressing sigh, causing Amy to bite her lip in the attempt not to cry.

'She isn't dead, yet.' Tikal said dryly.

'Yet?' Cosmo's voice crackled.

'Maybe I will need the other help.' Tikal said to herself.

'Other help?' Shadow asked.

'Alright, sir, bring me your antidote. I will combine it.' Tikal said, gesturing to a side room.

Everyone turned to their heads, looking to where Tikal was gesturing to see a large silhouette emerge from the shadows. Everyone's jaws dropped in shock before their expressions changed to something ugly combining fear, anger, sadness and frustration.

'EGGMAN?!'


	13. Come Back, Cream!

'What's he doing here?' Knuckles spat at the female echidna before Tails pulled him back.

'Nice to see you too, Knuckles.' Eggman smirked.

'He came to me yesterday with his form of the antidote for me to examine.' Tikal said back, glaring at her male twin.

'And?' Tails asked curiously.

'It would work, if it was strong enough.'

'Strong enough?' Amy's voice shook.

'I have tested it, but I need to mix it with my own antidote.' Tikal said as she brought a jar filled with green fluid in it.

Tikal took the vile from Eggman's hands and poured it in with her own. Nothing special happened, until she tipped the mixture into another bowl and began grinding up a root plant into the fowl smelling mixture. Everyone covered their muzzles and grimaced at the stench. They suddenly stopped when a dark green/blue cloud of smoke began to glow above the bowl.

'What the hell?' Rouge stammered.

'What's it doing?' Cosmo asked.

'Settling, she'll be able to take it in a few minutes.' Tikal said as she threw the remains of the root away.

'Take it?' Sonic chirped up.

'Yes, she needs to drink it.'

'Well, how else did you expect her to have it?' Eggman asked.

'You aren't really going to make her drink that concoction?!'

'Do you want to wake her up or not?'

'Of course I do, but-'

'I told you that this was a one-time thing, pest! I made the antidote, I came here to help, take it or leave it!' Eggman spat, leaving everyone stunned.

Sonic bowed his head before looking over to Knuckles, Tails and Shadow. They gave him a reassuring nod, to let him know they were no his side, no matter his decision. Sonic then looked over to Amy, Cosmo and Rouge who had their eyes glued on him. Amy gave him a hint of a smile before turning back to Cream and continued to fight back the tears. Sonic then turned back to his arch enemy and nodded.

'Alright, now any questions?' Tikal asked.

'Why was it necessary to make to antidotes? What made neither one strong enough alone?' Tails asked.

'Well, technically they both would have worked but she wouldn't have woken up straight away.' Tikal answered.

'What's wrong with that?'

'Odds are she wouldn't have woken up for at least a few months, maybe even years. There was no guarantee she would have woken up even in this century. Plus, because she is only sleeping, she would have continued to age. Her life would have just… passed her by.' Tikal shrugged sadly.

'So combining the two means she'll come back now, right?' Amy piped up.

'Uh, more than likely.' Tikal said with brutal honesty.

'Look on the bright side, if you guys got here a day later then this would have all been pointless.' Eggman said, trying to lighten the mood.

'What?' Knuckles questioned.

'You didn't tell them, Sonic?' Eggman turned to the blue hedgehog with an evil smile.

'Tell us what?!' Amy spat.

'It wasn't my intentions, but this is killing little Cream her. Deteriorating her body by the second. I contacted Sonic last night, I thought he would have told you all.'

Amy turned around to face her hero who was bowing his head in shame. She walked up to him cautiously before staring at him for long enough to burn a hole into his forehead, finally making him make eye contact with her angry face. The others watch on with sad and concerned expressions, waiting for the next move.

'How could you not tell me? Not tell us?' Amy asked silently.

'I didn't want you to worry. I was confident this would be over before you ever had to find out.' Sonic replied.

'My sister is on her death bed and you didn't feel the need to tell us?'

'Well, when you put it like that-'

'I hate you.' Amy cut him off.

Everyone gasped as the vicious words escaped the pink hedgehog's mouth, hitting Sonic like poison. Sonic looked into her watery, hateful eyes, regretting his actions. Including not kissing her last night. Amy turned around and walked over to Cream's side before holding her hand and looking up to Tikal and Eggman, with the most serious expression she had ever conjured.

'Do it, now.' Amy said bluntly.

Tikal and Eggman exchanged looks before Tikal brought over the bowl of brew to revive Cream. Amy used every fibre of her being to pray that this would work. Cream couldn't leave them, it was Cream? Vanilla would lose her mind, literally. Cream is her entire world. Tikal asked the pink hedgehog to tip Creams head up so she could pour the elixir down her throat. Seconds later, it was all over.

They waited… and waited… and waited… Amy and Cosmo sat by the little rabbit's side and held her hands. The boys paced and sat around while Rouge and Tikal walked Eggman too his hovercraft. He said he had done his part and he really had tried. Everyone agreed and bid him goodbye, Rouge even thanked him in her own way before he left. When she and Tikal came back in, Shadow was leaning against the wall next to where Tails was sitting and covering his face. Sonic was pacing, eyes glued to Amy who was finally allowing the tears roll down her cheeks, as was Cosmo. Knuckles walked up to the ivory bat and gave her a lop-sided smile as he stood next to her.

'Maybe you should take her home, her mother-'

'No. She will wake up any second now.' Amy cut Tikal off.

'Yes, we must wait. She'll be up and making flower crowns once again in the next five minutes.' Cosmo smiled at the thought.

Tikal exchanged a look with Rouge and Knuckles before shaking it off. Silence fell back over the room as they waited for Cream to wake up. Half an hour later, everyone was resting on the ground except Sonic who was leaning against the wall. Even Amy and Cosmo had their heads resting on Cream's chest where she lay. They were beginning to give up hope too, but they weren't ready to admit it yet. Amy closed her eyes, only seconds before she felt her head begin to rise and fall… rise and fall… rise and fall…

Amy's eyes shot open before she looked up at Cosmo who must have felt it too. They stared at each other before looking down at Cream, whose fur was now the vibrant colour it had been before. Cosmo shook her head a few times to make sure she was seeing things clearly, Amy rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't dreaming.

'Oh my, God.' Amy whispered.

'Cream?' Cosmo whispered, causing everyone to turn and look at them.

The rabbit's eyes began to twitch a little, causing the two girl's above her hearts to stop beating. They both called out her name again in sync before after a few seconds she sleepily opened her eyes and let out a huge yawn, stretching her arms. Everyone stood up and looked over in shock and suspense, were they seeing things too?

'Good morning, Amy. Morning, Cosmo.' Cream said with a sleepy smile.

'CREAM!' The two exclaimed before tackling her in a hug.

The small rabbit smiled lazily as she tried to hug them back, noticing the tears on their faces. She looked around to find everyone else standing around, who of course, she would bid good morning just as politely as always.

'Why are you crying?' She asked.

'We're so happy to see you!' Amy cried.

'It feels like we haven't seen you in so long!' Cosmo added.

'Well, I saw you yesterday and the day before that?' Cream said with a goofy smile.

Everyone looked at each other, more confused than ever, before looking at Tikal for an answer. She stepped away from Cream before explaining the likeliness of the incident leaving her memory was higher than probable. She suggested for them to just let her believe what she wanted, and maybe when she was older, fill her in.

Cream was introduced to Tikal and shown the tomb, being told they were just taking a short trip to visit an old friend of Sonic and Knuckles'. Cream tried to sit up but complained of pain radiated everywhere and sickness in her tummy. Another thing Tikal said was normal. Everyone said their goodbyes and thank yous to Tikal before making their way back to the Tornado, finally.

Knuckles carried Cream, who dozed off in his arms, freaking everyone out. She woke up again when they made it back to the Tornado when Tails told her they had a surprise for her, something they knew she would definitely want to see. So, once everyone climbed aboard, and Cream lay down in her seat, Tails lift the ship into the skies and over the rainforest's canopy.

'Oh my, gosh! Look at that tree!' Cream exclaimed as she pointed to the gold chaos tree.

'Look at that, it's so beautiful!' She would exclaim again when they came past the next tree.

She continued to shout with glee, causing everyone to smile and laugh with her at the beauty of the flowers on the tree. Sonic asked her through the Tornado's communicator if she wanted him to pick her some, but she declined. She said they were too beautiful to pull from the tree, and that they needed to stay there.

'So, pal, how do you suggest getting back home quickly?' Sonic piped up.

'Now that Cream is awake, you're all going to have to cram inside so I can engage a new feature.' Tails said, rubbing his hands together.

'What feature?' Knuckles said nervously.

'Just squish in!' Tails exclaimed happily as he opened the top of the ship.

Everyone squished in, shoulder to shoulder, sitting on each other's laps before Tails closed the top again. He smirked as he tried to hide his excitement, making the rest of the gang grow more and more curious about what this new feature of his was.

'X-Tornado Warp Drive! GO!' Tails exclaimed.

'WHAT?!'

It didn't take long before Tails had gotten the Tornado and the entire gang back safely to the front of Sonic and his humble abode. He landed the plane and allowed everyone to get out before he put it away and allowed his precious baby to rest. Everyone except him and Sonic were a little shaken up.

'A little warning wouldn't have gone astray, Tails?!' Knuckles exclaimed.

'Next time we have to do that, more seats are going in.' Rouge said as she crack her back and flexed her wings.

'There better not be a next time.' Shadow huffed.

'I'm hungry. How about I make some chilli dogs for us all?' Cream smiled casually, this statement making Sonic's ears prick up.

'I've missed you, Cream!' Sonic exclaimed as he lift her up bridal style and hugged her.

'I've missed you too, Sonic! I don't know where either of us went, though?' Cream smiled before Sonic carried her inside.

Everyone followed behind through the garage, looking forward to Cream's chilli dogs. Usually Sonic was the only one to eat those god awful things, but when Cream made them, it was like God had crafted them with his own hands.

'You coming, kiddo?' Rouge asked as she noticed Amy still standing outside.

'Yeah, I'll catch up.' She replied bluntly.

'You'll have to face him eventually.' Rouge said after walking up to Amy, realizing what was wrong.

'I know, and I've made things even worse now than what they were.'

'Did you mean it?'

'What? No! I could never hate him! I was scared and sad and… I just want to fix it.' Amy stammered.

'Then come inside, help Cream make a meal and talk to him.'

Amy nodded before turning on her heel to follow the ivory bat through the garage, up the stairs and into the house. She was right, all she could do was talk it out. She had messed up the original awkward screw-up, it was up to her to do something. The real question was, how?


	14. Mixed Emotions Are Out The Door!

It dawned on dark as the gang finished the meal of Cream's amazing, homemade chilli dogs. Of course, she had to make enough to feed an army, with Sonic at the table, who ate at least 2 or 3 dozen. Everyone watched on in amazement as he beat his record. After their meal, Cream grew tired, weak and pale, undeniably scaring the girls. Amy took Cream upstairs and allowed her to bathe and change into some old clothes that Tails had hidden away before putting her to bed.

'Amy?' Cream asked before her friend walked out the door.

'Yeah?'

'You don't really hate Mr. Sonic do you?'

Amy's eyes widened as she heard these words come out of Cream's mouth. How did she know? Cosmo, maybe even Rouge must have said something, or maybe she just over heard. Amy sighed before taking a seat beside Cream, she had to know.

'What would make you think that?' Amy asked with fake curiosity.

'The way you look at each other now. He with sadness and pain, you with anger and frustration… That and I overheard Rouge and Cosmo talking about it.' Cream admitted bashfully.

_I knew it. Dammit, girls!_

'No, Cream. I don't hate him, I never have and I never will.' Amy smiled after a minute of silence.

'You need to tell him. He thinks otherwise, it's so obvious.' Cream said sadly.

'It's complicated Cream, you-'

'Please don't treat me like a baby, Amy. I know I'm a few years younger than you all but I'm not a fool. Even a blind man could see how much you and Mr. Sonic care about each other, I think it's time you sucked it up and told each other.'

Amy was stunned at Cream's boldness. Cream had never once cut Amy, or anyone, off before, especially to say something so powerful. Amy took Cream's hand and smiled before letting out an audible sigh.

'He knows how I feel, everyone does. Everyone knows how he feels, which isn't mutual.'

'It is, you'll see.'

'Whatever you say, Cream. Goodnight.' Amy said as she got up and walked out the door.

Cream watched her pink friend quickly escape the room. She allowed herself to smile a little, still completely unaware of the happenings of the past few days. When Amy walked out, she looked over her shoulder for the first few steps before turning around and bumping into someone.

'Ow! Oh… Sorry, Ames.' Sonic mumbled as he helped Amy stable herself.

'It's fine, I'm fine.' Amy brushed herself off.

'I was just coming up to see Cream, she isn't asleep yet, is she?'

'No, but be quick.' Amy said before walking off.

Sonic froze still as Amy's shoulder brushed past his as she walked down the hallway and back to the others. He nodded to himself, as if he was replying to her comment. He shook it off, took a deep breath and opened the door to his own room where Cream was sleeping for the night.

'Knock, knock.' Sonic mimicked as he opened the door.

'Mr. Sonic?' Cream smiled as she tried to sit up.

'How are you feeling, kiddo?'

'I'm good… ouch.' Cream winced as she tried to sit up more.

'Take it easy, just relax.' Sonic lay her back down before taking a seat.

'How does it feel to be back home?' Sonic asked.

'Good, but I don't know where we went. I do miss Cheese though, is he still with Mama?' Cream smiled, clearly not all that bothered.

'Yeah, of course. You'll get to see them in a few days when she gets back from her trip.' Sonic smiled.

A minute of silence fell over the pair as Sonic just sat with his friend, which he feared for her life only a day ago. He watched at how strong she had become, how resilient. She was always so optimistic and upbeat, something they all needed right now.

'When will you tell Amy you love her, Mr. Sonic?' Cream asked out of the blue.

'What? Where on earth did that come from?' Sonic stuttered and began to blush.

'She doesn't hate you. She told me, she was scared. She still loves you, like always. I know how you feel about her, I think Tails does too. I think it's time she knew too, don't you think?'

'Cream, what are you talking about?'

'Oh, Mr. Sonic, please stop being silly. It's not fair on Amy, especially when you know as well as I do how much she cares for you.'

Sonic opened his mouth again to say something before closing it, his mouth continuing to hang agape like a goldfish, trying to find the words to say. Cream giggled a little before she pecked her friend on the cheek and thanked him for lending her his bed. She bid him goodnight before rolling over and falling asleep.

'Uh, night, Cream.' Sonic stammered as he stared into space.

The blue hero sat still on the edge of the bed for a minute more in thought. His young friend was right, as much as he tried to deny it. He felt the same way about Amy, he had for a long time, there were just so many things holding him back. Maybe Cream was right, it was time to let her know how he felt.

He abruptly stood up before walking out and closing the door gently behind him. He stormed down the hallway and into the living room where everyone was talking casually in their own conversations and drinking hot tea. He froze in the doorway for a second and took a deep breath, causing everyone to stare at him.

'Sonic?' Knuckles questioned.

'Earth to Faker?' Shadow smirked.

'You ok there, Big Blue?' Rouge chuckled.

Sonic released his tension before looking into Amy's eyes causing her to arch an eyebrow before setting down her cup of tea. Without another word, Sonic dashed towards the pink hedgehog and scooped her up into his arms before bolting out the open balcony doors. He leapt over the balcony and landed gracefully on the ground, Amy still in his arms.

'Sonic?! What are you doing?!' Amy screeched.

'Just trust me.' Sonic smirked as he continued to run.

'At least tell me where the hell we're going?!'

'You'll see.'

Sonic picked up the pace, causing Amy to screech and cling onto him for dear life, still trying to process what was happening. Who knows what the others were thinking back at the house?! Sonic finally screeched to a halt and gently let go of Amy, allowing her to stand on her feet. She opened her eyes to find her and the blue hedgehog on a small clearing over-looking the ocean, they were surrounded by beautiful plants and Amy could feel the cool, crisp, salty breeze run through her quills. After letting out a small smile at the scenery, she turned around to see a cocky, blue hedgehog with a small smile on his face.

'What are we doing here?' Amy asked with a confused look on her face.

'Privacy.' Sonic replied.

'By the ocean? You hate water!' Amy exclaimed.

'I do, but I know you love it.' Sonic smiled.

Amy arched an eyebrow before taking a step closer to the surprisingly relaxed, blue hero.

'What are you playing at?' Amy asked, beginning to get upset.

'Do you really hate me?' Sonic asked bluntly, his smile fading away.

'What?'

'You heard me.'

'Argh… No! But I'm pretty pissed at you. How could you not tell me about Cream? How could you do what you did in front of Vanessa? And how the hell could you confuse me the way you did out by the pool?!' Amy exclaimed as tears welled in her eyes.

'Ames, I know. I screwed up, but I've paid the price, I swear.' Sonic begged.

'How do you figure?' Amy huffed.

'When you told me you hated me. It felt like…' Sonic trailed off, causing Amy's eyes to widen.

'Like what?' She coaxed.

'Like I'd lost you, forever.'

Amy swallowed before letting out a shaky breath. She broke away eye contact with her blue hero before walking over to the edge of the clearing, causing Sonic to follow her until he stood just behind her. Amy forced herself to take a few deep breaths, listen to the crashing waves and block out the silence between them.

'You spoke to Cream, I'm guessing?' Amy couldn't help but smirk.

'I did.' Sonic smirked back.

'She's intuitive, I'll give her that.' Amy began to giggle, reluctantly.

'You are not wrong. She'll be giving Tails a run for his money someday.' Sonic giggled back.

The two began to giggle together, Amy's back still turned to Sonic. When their laughter died down, he cautiously reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder, turning her around to face him. He looked deeply into her dazzling, tear-filled eyes and smiled.

'I'm sorry, Ames. For everything.' Sonic said with a lop-sided smile.

'Hmmm, now where have I heard that before?' Amy smirked and tilted her head a little.

'Knock it off!' Sonic giggled.

'Sorry.' Amy blushed.

'I love you, Amy Rose.' Sonic said through a deep breath.

'Really?' She asked in disbelief.

'More than anything… except maybe running, and chilli dogs.' Sonic admitted, killing the moment.

'How romantic.' Amy said sarcastically.

Sonic gave her a goofy smile before she shook her head and kissed him anyway. They both smiled as their lips touched before they both began to fall more deeply into each other. Sonic wrapped his arms around the small of Amy's back and every now and then slid down to the top of her bottom and she wrapped her arms around his strong shoulders and ran her fingers through his thick quills.

They finally broke away for well needed air and rested their foreheads against one another's, staring into each other's eyes before giggling a little. They both thought they were dreaming, finding it hard to believe that after years and years of minor flirting, chasing, fighting… it was now all coming together.

'Should we go back home, now?' Amy asked, assuming Sonic was feeling queasy around the water.

'No, let's hang around for a bit. It's pretty here.' Sonic smiled.

He took Amy's hand before he sat down and cradled the pink hedgehog in his arms. She nuzzled her head into the crook of his neck, allowing him to rest his head on hers. He was so masculine, so strong, so warm. Amy had never felt so safe in all her life, so happy. Cream was awake and safe back with Tails and the others and not only were her and Sonic not fighting anymore, they were closer than ever.

For a change, things were going right. Everything was looking up for the Sonic Team.


End file.
